Copa Centroamericana
Founded | 1991 | , as Copa de Naciones UNCAF
---|---|
Abolished | 2017 | , as Copa Centroamericana
Region | Central America |
Number of teams | 7 |
Related competitions | North American Nations Cup Caribbean Cup/CFU Championship |
Last champions | Honduras (4th title) |
Most successful team(s) | Costa Rica (8 titles) |
The Copa Centroamericana (English: Central American Cup) was a regional football competition for senior national teams from Central America. It was organized by the Unión Centroamericana de Fútbol (UNCAF), the regional body for the Central American zone under CONCACAF. The tournament was held from 1991 to 2017, every two years in the years before and after the FIFA World Cup, it was originally called Copa de Naciones UNCAF (English: UNCAF Nations Cup) from 1991 to 2009, changing to the latter name in the 2011 edition.
The tournament consisted of two stages, in the group stage of the tournament finals, the seven teams competed in two groups with a round-robin format, one group with four teams and the other with three teams, with the top two teams in each group qualified for the semifinal, where the winners advanced into the final while the losers disputed a third place match. The fifth place match was disputed between the third-ranked teams of the group stage. Depending on their performance in the Copa Centroamericana, teams then went on to participate in other competitions, such as the CONCACAF Gold Cup and the Copa América.
The 14 editions of the Central American competition were won by four different national teams: Costa Rica were the most successful national team with 8 titles. Honduras won 4 titles, Guatemala and Panama won one title each. Costa Rica and Honduras were the only sides in history to win consecutive titles, with the former winning an unprecedented three titles in 2003, 2005 and 2007.
The last edition was held in 2017, with its place in the fixture schedule being taken by the CONCACAF Nations League.
History
[edit]Due to the success of the Costa Rica national football team at the 1990 FIFA World Cup and the approaching 1994 FIFA World Cup to be hosted in the United States, the CONCACAF Congress in Kingston, Jamaica decided to stage a continental championship itself; the CONCACAF Gold Cup was ratified on August 18, 1990.[1] Costa Rica were given a bye into the competition due to its title at the 1989 CONCACAF Championship, which also served as a qualification phase for the World Cup hosted by Italy.[1] However, due to mainly economic reasons, the United States were chosen as the venue for the continental tournament.[2]
During that same conference, the qualification format for the Central American associations were also decided on.[1] The final qualification round of the Central American zone had two bids: the United States and Costa Rica.[2] Costa Rica, now three-time CONCACAF champions and to celebrate their anniversary of the nation's World Cup performance by its team, was named by CONCACAF and UNCAF as the host country of the inaugural edition of the regional tournament organized by UNCAF (1991 UNCAF Nations Cup) on February 19, 1991.[3]
Participating teams
[edit]The seven UNCAF members participated on the tournament:
Belize
Costa Rica
El Salvador
Guatemala
Honduras
Nicaragua
Panama
Editions
[edit]Champions
[edit]Team | Titles | Runners-up | Third place | Fourth place |
---|---|---|---|---|
Costa Rica | 8 (1991, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2013, 2014) |
4 (1993, 2001, 2009, 2011) |
– | 2 (1995, 2017) |
Honduras | 4 (1993, 1995, 2011, 2017) |
3 (1991, 2005, 2013) |
2 (1999, 2009) |
2 (1997, 2003) |
Guatemala | 1 (2001) |
5 (1995, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2014) |
3 (1991, 2005, 2007) |
– |
Panama | 1 (2009) |
2 (2007, 2017) |
3 (1993, 2011, 2014) |
2 (2001, 2005) |
El Salvador | – | – | 6 (1995, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2013, 2017) |
7 (1991, 1993, 1999, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014) |
Belize | – | – | – | 1 (2013) |
- Notes
Italic — Hosts
All-time table
[edit]This section's factual accuracy is disputed. (January 2017) |
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Costa Rica | 61 | 36 | 16 | 9 | 109 | 38 | +71 | 124 |
2 | Honduras | 60 | 34 | 12 | 14 | 108 | 49 | +59 | 114 |
3 | Guatemala | 51 | 23 | 14 | 14 | 63 | 48 | +15 | 83 |
4 | El Salvador | 63 | 22 | 14 | 27 | 62 | 72 | −10 | 80 |
5 | Panama | 52 | 21 | 13 | 18 | 56 | 52 | +4 | 76 |
6 | Nicaragua | 44 | 5 | 5 | 34 | 29 | 116 | −87 | 20 |
7 | Belize | 33 | 1 | 6 | 26 | 20 | 81 | −61 | 9 |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Torneo de Naciones de CONCACAF: Costa Rica busca la ratificacion de sede" [CONCACAF Nations Cup: Costa Rica looks for ratification on host bid] (Web). La Nación (in Spanish). January 25, 1991. p. 39A. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
- ^ a b "En Julio Copa de Naciones" [Nations Cup in July] (Web). La Nación (in Spanish). January 27, 1991. p. 42A. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
- ^ "Torneo de Naciones Inicia el 26 de Mayo" [Nations Cup starts May 26] (Web). La Nación (in Spanish). February 20, 1991. p. 29A. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
External links
[edit]- UNCAF's official site for the Copa Centroamericana (in Spanish)
- CONCACAF's official site for the Copa Centroamericana (in English and Spanish)
- Copa Centroamericana
- Central American Football Union competitions
- CONCACAF Gold Cup qualification
- Defunct international association football competitions in North America
- Recurring sporting events established in 1991
- Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2017
- 1991 establishments in North America
- 2017 disestablishments in North America