CONCACAF Gold Cup
Organizing bodyCONCACAF
Founded1991 (1991)[1][2]
RegionNorth America, Central America and the Caribbean
Number of teams16 (finals)
41 (eligible to enter qualification)
Related competitionsCONCACAF Championship
Current champion(s) Mexico (9th title)
Most successful team(s) Mexico (9 titles)
Websiteconcacaf.com/gold-cup
2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup

The CONCACAF Gold Cup (Spanish: Copa Oro de la CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The Gold Cup is held every two years. The tournament succeeded the CONCACAF Championship (1963–1989), with its inaugural edition being held in 1991.[1]

North American Football Union members Canada, United States and Mexico are the only three nations to have won the tournament.

History

Championships before CONCACAF

Before the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) was 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 to 1961 with Costa Rica winning seven times. The NAFC held four championships in 1947 and 1949, and after 41 years of absence, in 1990 and 1991 for the North American zone as the North American Nations Cup with Mexico winning three times and Canada winning once.[3]

CONCACAF Championship (1963–1989)

Winners of the CONCACAF Gold Cup up to 2019

CONCACAF was founded in 1961 through the merging of NAFC and CCCF which resulted in a single championship being held for the continent. The first CONCACAF tournament was held in 1963 in El Salvador with Costa Rica becoming the first champion. The CONCACAF Campeonato de Naciones, as it was called, was held every two years from 1963 to 1973. The second tournament was held in Guatemala in 1965 when Mexico defeated the host country in the final of a six-team tournament. The 1967 competition was held in Honduras and saw a third 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 Trinidad and Tobago, the first time in the Caribbean. In 1973, the tournament kept the same format of six teams playing a single round-robin, but there were bigger stakes attached: CONCACAF's berth in the FIFA World Cup tournament in 1974. In Port-au-Prince, Haiti, the host country pulled off an upset by winning the tournament and claiming a spot in the World Cup in West Germany.

With the Campeonato de Naciones doubling as the final World Cup qualifying tournament, the next two editions were held in Mexico City and Tegucigalpa, Honduras in 1977 and 1981, respectively. In each case the host country was crowned champion and earned a spot in the World Cup. 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 1985 and 1989, receiving a trophy.[4]

CONCACAF Gold Cup (since 1991)

In 1990, CONCACAF renamed and restructured the CONCACAF Championship as the CONCACAF Gold Cup, with the United States hosting the first competition in 1991, and hosting or co-hosting every subsequent iteration of the tournament (as of 2023). 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 1996, the Gold Cup field included its first guest team, the defending FIFA World Cup Champions Brazil. Guests were invited to participate in the six Gold Cup tournaments from 1996 to 2005. Starting with the 2000 Gold Cup, the tournament field was increased to twelve teams and for the 2007 tournament, the Gold Cup again was contested exclusively by nations within CONCACAF.

The 2007 Gold Cup hosts successfully defended their title beating Mexico in the final 2–1 in Chicago; Canada and Guadeloupe shared third place. Mexico won the 2009 Gold Cup by beating the United States 5–0. In the 2011 Gold Cup, Mexico defeated the USA 4–2 in the final while the USA won the 2013 Gold Cup by beating Panama 1–0.

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

Before 2015, when the Gold Cup did not fall in 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. In 2015, the winners of the previous two Gold Cups (the 2013 and 2015 editions) faced each other in CONCACAF Cup – a playoff to determine the CONCACAF entrant to the 2017 Confederations Cup.[5]

In January 2017, Victor Montagliani announced the expansion of the Gold Cup from 12 to 16 teams, starting with the 2019 tournament.[6] In November 2018, Costa Rica was announced as one of the hosts of the 2019 tournament, with a group B double-header set to be held at the Estadio Nacional.[7] In April 2019, it was announced that Jamaica would host a doubleheader in group C at Independence Park.[8]

Evolution of the format

The number of teams and the format of each final tournament have varied over the years. In most tournaments, the tournament consists of a round-robin group stage followed by a single-elimination knockout stage.

There has been interest from numerous sources to have the tournament held every four years to potentially increase the prestige, decrease player fatigue and better align with the upcoming European and South American calendars.[9][10]

Year Teams Matches Group stage Final stages
1991–1993 8 16 2 groups of 4 teams 4-team knockout (group winners and runners-up)
1996 9 13 3 groups of 3 teams 4-team knockout (group winners plus best runner-up)
1998 10 16 3 groups of 3 or 4 teams
2000 12 19 4 groups of 3 teams 8-team knockout (group winners and runners-up)
2002–2003 20
2005–2013 25 3 groups of 4 teams 8-team knockout
(group winners and runners-up, plus 2 best 3rd-placed teams)
2015 26
2017 25
2019–2023 16 31 4 groups of 4 teams 8-team knockout (group winners and runners-up)

Results

Keys
Ed. Year Hosts Final Third place playoff or losing semi-finalists Number of teams
Champions Score Runners-up Third place Score Fourth place
11991 United States
United States		0–0 (a.e.t.)
(4–3 p)
Honduras
Mexico
2–0

Costa Rica
8
21993 Mexico
 United States
Mexico		4–0
United States
Costa Rica

Jamaica
1–1 (a.e.t.)
[n 1]
– [n 1]
8
31996 United States
Mexico		2–0
Brazil
United States
3–0

Guatemala
9
41998 United States
Mexico		1–0
United States
Brazil
1–0

Jamaica
10
52000 United States
Canada		2–0
Colombia		 Peru and  Trinidad and Tobago
12
62002 United States
United States		2–0
Costa Rica
Canada
2–1

South Korea
12
72003 Mexico
 United States
Mexico		1–0 (s.d.)
Brazil
United States
3–2

Costa Rica
12
82005 United States
United States		0–0 (a.e.t.)
(3–1 p)
Panama		 Colombia and  Honduras
12
92007 United States
United States		2–1
Mexico		 Canada and  Guadeloupe
12
102009 United States
Mexico		5–0
United States		 Costa Rica and  Honduras
12
112011 United States
Mexico		4–2
United States		 Honduras and  Panama
12
122013 United States
United States		1–0
Panama		 Honduras and  Mexico
12
132015 Canada
 United States
Mexico		3–1
Jamaica
Panama
1–1 (a.e.t.)
(3–2 p)

United States
12
142017 United States
United States		2–1
Jamaica		 Costa Rica and  Mexico
12
152019 Costa Rica
 Jamaica
 United States
Mexico		1–0
United States		 Haiti and  Jamaica
16
162021 United States
United States		1–0 (a.e.t.)
Mexico		 Canada and  Qatar
16
172023 Canada
 United States
Mexico		1–0
Panama 		 Jamaica and  United States
16
Notes
  1. 1 2 Both teams shared the third position after extra time as a penalty shoot-out was not held.

Records and statistics

Champions' results in the Confederations Cup

Qualified via Year Team Result
1993 Gold Cup 1995  Mexico Third place
1996 Gold Cup 1997 Mexico Group stage (3rd)
1998 Gold Cup (1st) 1999 Mexico Champions
1998 Gold Cup (2nd)  United States Third place
2000 Gold Cup 2001  Canada Group stage (4th)
2002 Gold Cup 2003 United States Group stage (4th)
2003 Gold Cup 2005 Mexico Fourth place
2007 Gold Cup 2009 United States Runners up
2011 Gold Cup 2013 Mexico Group stage (3rd)
2013 Gold Cup 2017 United States DNQ[lower-alpha 1]
2015 Gold Cup Mexico Fourth place
  1. ↑ Lost qualifying play-off (CONCACAF Cup) to Mexico.

Awards

There are currently seven post-tournament awards

  • Best Player – for most valuable player.
  • Top Goalscorer – for most prolific goal scorer.
  • Best Goalkeeper – for most outstanding goalkeeper.
  • Best Young Player – for the best young player.
  • Team of the Tournament – for best combined team of players at the tournament.
  • Goal of the Tournament – for best goal, first awarded in 2021.
  • Fair Play Award – for the team with the best record of fair play.

Invitees

The 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the first iteration to have a guest from a different confederation, Brazil from CONMEBOL. In spite of bringing their under-23 team, Brazil finished as runners-up to Mexico and outplaced seven teams from CONCACAF.[11] For the next decade, six countries from three confederations would make appearances in the Gold Cup, with seven of the eleven appearances finishing within the top four. Starting in 2007, CONCACAF would no longer invite guests from other confederations. This is primarily due to giving more opportunities from teams in the region to compete, as there was a rise in performances from the region hinted by the FIFA World Ranking.[12][13]

After a 16-year hiatus from guest nations, Qatar were invited and participated in the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup, losing in the semi-finals to the United States. Qatar also participated in the 2023 Gold Cup, where they lost 4–0 to Panama in the quarter-finals.[14]

Invitees nations record

Team Confederation 1996 1998 2000 2002 2003 2005 2021 2023 Editions
 Brazil CONMEBOL 2nd 3rd  –  – 2nd  –  –  – 3
 Colombia CONMEBOL  –  – 2nd  – QF SF  –  – 3
 Peru CONMEBOL  –  – SF  –  –  –  –  – 1
 South Korea AFC  –  – GS 4th  –  –  –  – 2
 Ecuador CONMEBOL  –  –  – GS  –  –  –  – 1
 South Africa CAF  –  –  –  –  – QF  –  – 1
 Qatar AFC  –  –  –  –  –  – SF QF 2

Media coverage

In the United States, the CONCACAF Gold Cup airs on Fox Sports and Univision (since 2000). In Mexico it airs on Televisa and TV Azteca. In Canada, after years on Sportsnet and TSN, it has been broadcast exclusively on OneSoccer since 2021. Indonesia is NET. Concacaf also streams Gold Cup matches on YouTube with some geo-restrictions.

Trophy

The Gold Cup trophy is awarded to the champions of the tournament. The design of the trophy has changed multiple times since its inaugural version. Changes include scaling down of the size as well as replacing the original flat rectangular base with an elevated round pedestal. The base includes engravings of the champion nation with the year in which they won the trophy.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "About Gold Cup". CONCACAF. 17 December 2020. Archived from the original on 2 August 2021. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  2. ↑ "2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup – Technical Report" (PDF). CONCACAF. 12 November 2007. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 November 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  3. ↑ "CONCACAF: The Football Confederation". Archived from the original on 23 May 2002.
  4. ↑ "1985 Gabriel Kafaty Cup". Flickr. 3 April 2009. Archived from the original on 7 January 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  5. ↑ "2013, 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup winners will play one-off match for 2017 Confederations Cup berth". MLS Soccer. April 5, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Montagliani happy with 2016, sees big things for CONCACAF in new year". Jamaica Observer. 5 January 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-02-14. Retrieved 13 February 2017. Of course the Gold Cup is this year and it is the last edition of 12 teams as we will increase it to 16 for the 2019 version.
  7. ↑ "Costa Rica to host 2019 Gold Cup group matches". 26 November 2018. Archived from the original on 27 November 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  8. ↑ "Concacaf Announces Jamaica as a Host Venue for the 2019 Gold Cup". 2 April 2019. Archived from the original on 11 May 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  9. ↑ "The Concacaf Gold Cup's Big-Picture Prestige Problem—and a Potential Solution".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ↑ "Memo To Concacaf: Stop Holding The Gold Cup Every Two Years".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. ↑ "CONCACAF Championship, Gold Cup 1996". Archived from the original on 3 October 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  12. ↑ "2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup™ to be an All-CONCACAF Event". SoCa Warriors Forum. Archived from the original on 1 August 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  13. ↑ "2007 Gold Cup Technical Report". ISSUU. 18 December 2013. Archived from the original on 1 August 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  14. ↑ "2021 Concacaf Gold Cup to include 2019 AFC Asian Cup Champions Qatar as guest participant". CONCACAF. 4 September 2020. Archived from the original on 11 July 2021. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
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