CONCACAF Gold Cup

CONCACAF Gold Cup
Founded	1991
Region	North America, Central America & the Caribbean (CONCACAF)
Number of teams	16
Tournament information
Current champions	United States (7th title)
Most successful team(s)	Mexico (8 titles)
Current
Website	Official website

The CONCACAF Gold Cup is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the regional champion of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.

The Gold Cup is held every two years. Previous to 2015, when the Gold Cup did not fall on the same year as the FIFA Confederations Cup, the winner, or highest placed team that is a member of both CONCACAF and FIFA, qualified for the next staging of that tournament. Beginning in 2015, the winners of two successive Gold Cups (the 2013 and 2015 editions in the first instance) will face each other in a playoff to determine the CONCACAF entrant to the next Confederations Cup. If the same team has won the Gold Cup on both relevant occasions, there will be no playoff and that team will automatically qualify for the Confederations Cup.

History

Championships prior to CONCACAF

Prior to the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) being formed in 1961, association football in the region was divided into smaller, regional divisions. The two main bodies consisted of the Confederación Centroamericana y del Caribe de Fútbol (CCCF) founded in 1938 (consisting of Central America and most of the Caribbean) and the North American Football Confederation (NAFC) founded in 1946 (consisting of the North American nations of United States, Mexico, Canada, and Cuba). Each confederation held its own competition, the CCCF Championship and the NAFC Championship. The CCCF held 10 championships from 1941–1961, Costa Rica winning seven (1941, ’46, ’48, ’53, ’55, ’60, ’61), and one each by El Salvador (1943), Panama (1951) and Haiti (1957). The NAFC held four championships in 1947 and 1949 and later, after 41 years of absence, in 1990 and 1991 for the North American zone as the North American Nations Cup with Mexico winning three (1947, ’49, ’91) and Canada winning one (1990) before the introduction of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

CONCACAF Championship

For more details on this topic, see CONCACAF Championship.

CONCACAF was founded in its current form in 1961 after the merging of NAFC and CCCF and thus resulted in a single competition being held for the continent. However, the first official national team competition was not held until more than two years had passed, with El Salvador being selected as the first hosting country (1963). The CONCACAF Campeonato de Naciones, as it was called, was then held every two years from 1963-1971. The second edition (1965) held in Guatemala, saw Mexico defeat the host in the final of a six-team tournament. The 1967 competition was held in Honduras and saw a third different champion crowned, Guatemala. Costa Rica won their second title as hosts in 1969, knocking off Guatemala, while two years later, Mexico won their second championship as the tournament moved to the Caribbean for the first time, held in Trinidad & Tobago. In 1973, the tournament kept the same format of six teams in one site playing a single round-robin, but now there were bigger stakes attached: the Confederation’s berth in the FIFA World Cup finals. In Port-au-Prince, Haiti, the host country pulled off a shocking upset by winning the tournament and claiming a spot in West Germany 1974.

With the Campeonato de Naciones doubling as the final World Cup qualifying tournament, the next two editions were held in Ciudad de México and Tegucigalpa, Honduras in 1977 and 1981, respectively, the host country came away as champion and grabbed the spots on offers each time. In 1985 and 1989, the winner of the World Cup qualifying tournament was again crowned Confederation champion. Canada and Costa Rica were named champions in ’85 and ’89, respectively, but without ever lifting a trophy.

CONCACAF Gold Cup

In 1990, CONCACAF again created a tournament as its showpiece event to crown the regional champion. The event was named the CONCACAF Gold Cup, with the USA hosting the first competition in 1991. The host country was the inaugural champion of the eight-team tournament. Mexico dominated the remainder of the decade, winning three consecutive CONCACAF Gold Cup titles in 1993, 1996 and 1998. In the 1996 edition, the Gold Cup field included its first guest team, inviting the defending FIFA World Cup Champions Brazil.

Starting with the 2000 Gold Cup, the tournament field was increased to twelve teams. Canada won the next tournament, their first major international honour in almost 100 years.

The 2007 Gold Cup was contested in the United States from 6 June to 24 June 2007 where the hosts successfully defended their title beating Mexico in the final 2-1 in Chicago; Canada and Guadeloupe shared third-place. The 2009 Gold Cup took place 3 July to 26 July 2009 with Mexico claiming the title after beating the United States by a 5-0 score. In the 2011 Gold Cup, Mexico defeated the United States 4-2 in the final at the Rose Bowl. The United States had struggled throughout the tournament, but reached the final via a dramatic 1-0 win over Panama.

Since the formation of the Gold Cup in 1991, the CONCACAF Championship has been won six times by Mexico, five times by the United States, and once by Canada. Runners-up include Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Honduras, and Panama.

Results

Keys

• a.e.t.: after extra time
• s.d.: after "sudden death" extra time]
• p: after penalty shoot-out

Ed.	Year	Host	Final			Third place match			Num. teams
			1 ! Champion	Score	2 ! Runner-up	3 ! Third place	Score	Fourth place
1	1991	United States	United States	0–0 (a.e.t.) (4–3 p)	Honduras	Mexico	2–0	Costa Rica	8
2	1993	Mexico United States	Mexico	4–0	United States	Costa Rica Jamaica	1–1 (a.e.t.)	–	8
3	1996	United States	Mexico	2–0	Brazil	United States	3–0	Guatemala	9
4	1998	United States	Mexico	1–0	United States	Brazil	1–0	Jamaica	10
5	2000	United States	Canada	2–0	Colombia	(not held)			12
6	2002	United States	United States	2–0	Costa Rica	Canada	2–1	South Korea	12
7	2003	Mexico United States	Mexico	1–0 (s.d.)	Brazil	United States	3–2	Costa Rica	12
8	2005	United States	United States	0–0 (a.e.t.) (3–1 p)	Panama	(not held)			12
9	2007	United States	United States	2–1	Mexico	(not held)			12
10	2009	United States	Mexico	5–0	United States	(not held)'			12
11	2011	United States	Mexico	4–2	United States	(not held)			12
12	2013	United States	United States	1–0	Panama	(not held)			12
13	2015	Canada United States	Mexico	3–1	Jamaica	Panama	1–1 (a.e.t.) (3–2 p)	United States	12
14	2017	United States	United States	2–1	Jamaica	(not held)			12
15	2019	Costa Rica Jamaica United States	Mexico	1–0	United States	(not held)			16
16	2021	United States	United States	1–0 (a.e.t.)	Mexico	(not held)			16

Cumulative results

The following is a compiled national level championship table for the Gold Cup.

Team	Appearances	Winners	Runners-up	Third-place	Fourth-place
Mexico	12	6 (1993, 1996, 1998, 2003, 2009, 2011)	1 (2007)	2 (1991, 2013)	–
United States	12	5 (1991, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2013)	4 (1993, 1998, 2009, 2011)	2 (1996, 2003)	–
Canada	11	1 (2000)	–	2 (2002, 2007)	–
Honduras	11	–	1 (1991)	4 (2005, 2009, 2011, 2013)	–
Costa Rica	11	–	1 (2002)	2 (1993, 2009)	2 (1991, 2003)
Guatemala	9	–	–	–	1 (1996)
Jamaica	8	–	–	1 (1993)	1 (1998)
Trinidad and Tobago	8	–	–	1 (2000)	–
El Salvador	8	–	–	–	–
Cuba	7	–	–	–	–
Panama	6	–	2 (2005, 2013)	1 (2011)	–
Haiti	5	–	–	–	–
Martinique	4	–	–	–	–
Brazil	3	–	2 (1996, 2003)	1 (1998)	–
Colombia	3	–	1 (2000)	1 (2005)	–
Guadeloupe	3	–	–	1 (2007)	–
South Korea	2	–	–	–	1 (2002)
Grenada	2	–	–	–	–
Peru	1	–	–	1 (2000)	–
Nicaragua	1	–	–	–	–
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	1	–	–	–	–
Belize	1	–	–	–	–
Ecuador	1	–	–	–	–
South Africa	1	–	–	–	–

^ a: Hosts
^ b: Teams invited to the tournament
^ c: Third place match was not held

Participating nations

Team	1991	1993	1996	1998	2000	2002	2003	2005	2007	2009	2011	2013	Years
North American Football Union Members
Canada	GS	GS	GS		1st	3rd	GS	GS	SF	QF	GS	GS	11
Mexico	3rd	1st	1st	1st	QF	QF	1st	QF	2nd	1st	1st	SF	12
United States	1st	2nd	3rd	2nd	QF	1st	3rd	1st	1st	2nd	2nd	1st	12
Caribbean Football Union Members
Cuba				GS		GS	QF	GS	GS		GS	QF	7
Grenada										GS	GS		2
Guadeloupe									SF	QF	GS		3
Haiti					GS	QF			GS	QF		GS	5
Jamaica	GS	3rd		4th	GS		QF	QF		GS	QF		8
Martinique		GS				QF	GS					GS	4
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines			GS										1
Trinidad and Tobago	GS		GS	GS	SF	GS		GS	GS			QF	8
Central American Football Union Members
Belize												GS	1
Costa Rica	4th	3rd		GS	QF	2nd	SF	QF	QF	SF	QF	QF	11
El Salvador			GS	GS		QF	QF		GS	GS	QF	QF	8
Guatemala	GS		4th	GS	GS	GS	GS	GS	QF		QF		9
Honduras	2nd	GS	GS	GS	QF		GS	SF	QF	SF	SF	SF	11
Nicaragua										GS			1
Panama		GS						2nd	QF	QF	SF	2nd	6
Guest Nations
Brazil			2nd	3rd			2nd						3
Colombia					2nd		QF	SF					3
Ecuador						GS							1
Peru					SF								1
South Africa								QF					1
South Korea					GS	4th							2
Total	8	8	9	10	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12

Gold Cup results, 1991–2013

Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	Points
United States	61	48	6	7	122	44	+78	150
Mexico	56	41	7	8	133	33	+100	130
Costa Rica	46	16	12	18	73	59	+14	60
Honduras	41	18	6	17	65	54	+11	60
Canada	38	15	9	14	43	52	-9	54
Panama	28	10	9	9	41	36	+5	39
Jamaica	29	9	4	16	32	49	-17	31
Brazil	14	8	2	4	22	9	+13	26
El Salvador	25	7	4	14	23	47	-24	25
Trinidad and Tobago	23	5	5	13	28	40	-12	20
Guatemala	27	4	7	16	23	44	-21	19
Colombia	13	5	2	6	14	17	-3	17
Guadeloupe	12	4	1	7	12	18	-6	13
Haiti	15	3	4	8	12	22	-10	13
Martinique	11	2	2	7	7	24	-17	8
Cuba	20	2	2	16	17	66	-49	8
South Africa	4	1	3	0	7	6	+1	6
Peru	4	1	1	2	7	7	0	4
South Korea	7	0	4	3	5	9	-4	4
Ecuador	2	1	0	1	2	2	0	3
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	2	0	0	2	0	8	-8	0
Nicaragua	3	0	0	3	0	8	-8	0
Belize	3	0	0	3	1	11	-10	0
Grenada	6	0	0	6	1	25	-24	0

Qualification

North American zone

• Qualifies automatically, 3 teams.

Central American zone

• qualifies from Copa Centroamericana, top 5 teams.

Caribbean zone

• qualifies from Caribbean Cup, top 4 teams.

Venues

Main article: CONCACAF Championship and Gold Cup Venues

Total hosts

Time(s)	Nation	Year(s)
12	United States	1991, 1993^, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003^, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013
2	Mexico	1993^, 2003^

^ Co-hosted by Mexico and the United States.

Player records

All-time scorers

Rank	Player	Goals
1	Landon Donovan	18
2	Luis Roberto Alves	12
3	Blas Perez	10
	Eric Wynalda	9
	Carlos Pavón	9
	Walter Centeno	9
6	Brian McBride	8
	Rodolfo Zelaya	8
	Carlo Costly	8

In Bold indicates that the player is still active.

Player awards

Year	Top Goalscorer	Most Valuable Player	Best Goalkeeper	Source
1991	Benjamín Galindo (4 goals)	Tony Meola
1993	Luis Roberto Alves (11 goals)	Ramón Ramírez
1996	Eric Wynalda (4 goals)	Raúl Lara
1998	Luis Hernández (4 goals)	Kasey Keller
2000	Carlo Corazzin (4 goals)	Craig Forrest	Craig Forrest
2002	Brian McBride (4 goals)	Brian McBride
2003	Walter Centeno (4 goals) Landon Donovan (4 goals)	Jesús Arellano
2005	DaMarcus Beasley (3 goals) Landon Donovan (3 goals) Carlos Ruiz (3 goals) Wilmer Velasquez (3 goals) Luis Tejada (3 goals)	Luis Tejada	Jaime Penedo
2007	Carlos Pavón (5 goals)	Julian de Guzman	Franck Grandel
2009	Miguel Sabah (4 goals)	Giovani dos Santos	Keylor Navas
2011	Javier Hernández (7 goals)	Javier Hernández	Noel Valladares
2013	Landon Donovan (5 goals) Chris Wondolowski (5 goals) Gabriel Torres (5 goals)	Landon Donovan	Jaime Penedo

Gold Cup winning head coaches

Year	Head coach	Champions
1991	Bora Milutinović	United States
1993	Miguel Mejía Barón	Mexico
1996	Bora Milutinović	Mexico
1998	Manuel Lapuente	Mexico
2000	Holger Osieck	Canada
2002	Bruce Arena	United States
2003	Ricardo La Volpe	Mexico
2005	Bruce Arena	United States
2007	Bob Bradley	United States
2009	Javier Aguirre	Mexico
2011	José Manuel de la Torre	Mexico
2013	Jürgen Klinsmann	United States

See also

• American Championships

External links

• Official Gold Cup Site
• CONCACAF Info about Championship
• Copa Oro coverage on Univision.com
• Gold Cup at RSSSF
• Gold Cup & Championship on RSSSF Archive

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