CONCACAF Gold Cup
The CONCACAF Gold Cup is the biennial championship for national football teams in North, Central America and the Caribbean, established in 1991 to replace the earlier regional championship.
The CONCACAF Gold Cup is the main international championship for senior men's national teams that belong to the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football. Its Spanish name is often given as Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, and it is an association football competition by sport classification (association football).
Format and participants
The tournament typically takes place every two years and brings together teams from the three subregions of the confederation: Central America, North America and the Caribbean. A qualifying phase determines many of the entrants, while the host nation or nations qualify automatically.
- Competition structure usually combines a group stage followed by knockout rounds (quarterfinals, semifinals and final).
- Field size and precise format have varied across editions as CONCACAF adapts to calendar and membership changes.
- On several occasions, invited guest teams from other confederations have taken part, raising the competitive level and interest.
Since its inception, the United States has frequently hosted or co-hosted the event, making it a prominent sporting fixture in the region. Hosting arrangements have emphasized access, commercial viability and stadium capacity to stage matches across multiple cities.
History and development
The first Gold Cup was played in 1991 as the successor to the earlier CONCACAF Championship, which was the regional tournament until it ended in 1989. The change introduced a regular, market-oriented competition with broader media exposure and a stable schedule that helped raise the profile of national teams across the confederation.
Over time the Gold Cup has become a platform for emerging players, tactical experimentation and regional rivalries. High-profile matches attract substantial attendance and broadcasting interest, contributing to the growth of the sport in the area.
Notable teams and legacy
Mexico remains the most successful team in the tournament's history and is widely recognized for its consistent performances (Mexico national football team). The United States and several Central American and Caribbean nations have also had memorable campaigns, producing close contests and surprise results.
The Gold Cup serves not only as a regional championship but also as a developmental and promotional vehicle for football in the Americas. Its matches are important for FIFA rankings, player exposure and fostering rivalries that define the sport in the region.
Further reading and resources about the competition's results, statistics and recent editions are maintained by confederation records and national associations. For general background and terminology see federation pages and sport glossaries.
Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF • association football • Central America • North America • Caribbean • Mexico national football team
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Following are all the national teams that have participated in this tournament so far.
- Teams in bold were CONCACAF Nations Cup or CONCACAF Gold Cup winners in their first appearance.
- Teams in italics were hosts for their first participation.
- Teams in brackets participated for the first time under a different name.
| Year(s) | First-time participants | |||
| 1963 | Costa Rica | El Salvador | Guatemala | Honduras |
| Jamaica | Mexico 1934 | Nicaragua 1908 | Netherlands Antilles 1959 | |
| Panama | ||||
| 1965 | Haiti 1807 | |||
| 1967 | Cuba | Trinidad and Tobago | ||
| 1969–1973 | no first-time participants | |||
| 1977 | Canada | Suriname | ||
| 1981–1985 | no first-time participants | |||
| 1989 | United States USA | |||
| 1991 | no first-time participants | |||
| 1993 | Martinique | |||
| 1996 | Brazil | Saint Vincent Grenadines | ||
| 1998 | no first-time participants | |||
| 2000 | Colombia | Peru | Korea Sud South Korea | |
| 2002 | Ecuador | |||
| 2003 | no first-time participants | |||
| 2005 | Sud Africa | |||
| 2007 | Guadeloupe | |||
| 2009 | Grenada | |||
| 2011 | no first-time participants | |||
| 2013 | Belize | |||
| 2015 | no first-time participants | |||
| 2017 | (Curaçao | French Guiana | ||
| 2019 | Bermuda | Guyana | ||
| 2021 | Qatar | |||
The tournaments at a glance
CONCACAF Nation's Cup
| Year | Host | Final Standings | |||
| Winner | 2nd place | 3rd place | 4th place | ||
| 1963 | Costa Rica | El Salvador | Netherlands Antilles 1959 | Honduras | |
| 1965 | Mexico 1934 | Guatemala | Costa Rica | El Salvador | |
| 1967 | Guatemala | Mexico 1934 | Honduras | Trinidad and Tobago | |
| 1969 | Costa Rica | Guatemala | Netherlands Antilles 1959 | Mexico | |
| 1971 | Mexico | Haiti 1964 | Costa Rica | Cuba | |
| *1973* | Haiti 1964 | Trinidad and Tobago | Mexico | Honduras | |
| *1977* | Mexico | Haiti 1964 | El Salvador | Canada | |
| *1981* | Honduras | El Salvador | Mexico | Canada | |
| *1985* | - – | Canada | Honduras | Costa Rica | unplayed |
| *1989* | - − | Costa Rica | United States USA | Trinidad and Tobago | Guatemala |
* at the same time qualification for the respective football world championship in the following year
CONCACAF Gold Cup
| Year | Host | Finale | Match for 3rd place / Semifinalists 1 | ||||||
| Winner | Result | 2nd place | 3rd place | Result | 4th place | ||||
| 1991 | United States USA | Honduras | Mexico | 2:0 | Costa Rica | ||||
| 1993 | Mexico | 4:0 | United States USA | Costa Rica | 1:1 n. V. | Jamaica | |||
| 1996 | Mexico | 2:0 | Brazil | United States USA | 3:0 | Guatemala | |||
| 1998 | Mexico | 1:0 | United States USA | Brazil | 1:0 | Jamaica | |||
| 2000 | Canada | 2:0 | Colombia |
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| 2002 | United States USA | 2:0 | Costa Rica | Canada | 2:1 | Korea Sud South Korea | |||
| 2003 | Mexico | 1:0 n. GG | Brazil | United States USA | 3:2 | Costa Rica | |||
| 2005 | United States USA | Panama | |||||||
| 2007 | United States USA | 2:1 | Mexico |
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| 2009 | Mexico | 5:0 | United States USA |
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| 2011 | Mexico | 4:2 | United States USA | ||||||
| 2013 | United States USA | 1:0 | Panama | ||||||
| 2015 | Mexico | 3:1 | Jamaica | Panama | United States USA | ||||
| 2017 | United States USA | 2:1 | Jamaica |
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| 2019 | USA / Costa Rica / Jamaica | Mexico | 1:0 | United States USA | |||||
| 2021 | | ||||||||
1 As in 2000 and from 2005 to 2013, no third-place match has been played since 2017. In the semi-finals listed, the former was defeated by the eventual Gold Cup winner, the latter by the other finalist.
Ranking
| Rank | Country | Title | Year(s) | 2nd Pl. |
| 1 | Mexico | 11 | 1965, 1971, 1977, 1993, 1996, 1998, 2003, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2019 | 2 |
| 2 | United States USA | 06 | 1991, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2013, 2017 | 6 |
| 3 | Costa Rica | 03 | 1963, 1969, 1989 | 1 |
| 4 | Canada | 02 | 1985, 2000 | 0 |
| 5 | Honduras | 01 | 1981 | 2 |
| Guatemala | 01 | 1967 | 2 | |
| Haiti 1964 | 01 | 1973 | 2 | |
| 8 | El Salvador | 2 | ||
| Brazil | 2 | |||
| Panama | 2 | |||
| Jamaica | 2 | |||
| 12 | Trinidad and Tobago | 1 | ||
| Colombia | 1 |
italics: CONCACAF Nation's Cup
Questions and answers
Q: What is the CONCACAF Gold Cup?
A: The CONCACAF Gold Cup is an association football tournament held every two years between national teams that are members of CONCACAF.
Q: When was the first tournament held?
A: The first tournament was held in 1991.
Q: What was the predecessor to the CONCACAF Gold Cup?
A: Before 1991, the CONCACAF Championship was the first organized tournament for national teams in the region.
Q: Which countries participate in this tournament?
A: The CONCACAF Gold Cup features teams from Central America, North America and the Caribbean.
Q: Who has been most successful team in this tournament?
A: The Mexico national football team has been the most successful team in this tournament, having won 8 times.
Related articles
Author
AlegsaOnline.com CONCACAF Gold Cup Leandro Alegsa
URL: https://en.alegsaonline.com/art/22364