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 champions of North America (Northern 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]

CONCACAF Gold Cup
Organizing bodyCONCACAF
Founded1991; 33 years ago (1991)[1][2]
RegionNorth America (Northern America, Central America, and the Caribbean)
Number of teams16 (finals)
41 (eligible to enter qualification)
Qualifier forFIFA Confederations Cup (1992–2017)
Related competitionsCONCACAF Championship
Current champion(s) Mexico (9th title)
Most successful team(s) Mexico (9 titles)
Websiteconcacaf.com/gold-cup
2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup

So far, only three national teams have won the tournament: Canada, Mexico, and the United States. All of them are member associations of the North American Football Union (NAFU).

History

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Championships before CONCACAF

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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)

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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][better source needed]

CONCACAF Gold Cup (since 1991)

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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

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The number of teams in the final tournament has gradually increased over the years. Each tournament has consisted 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 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–present 16 31 4 groups of 4 teams 8-team knockout (group winners and runners-up)

Results

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Keys
Ed. Year Hosts Final Third place playoff or losing semi-finalists Number of teams
Champions Score Runners-up 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.)
[n 1]
[n 1]
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
  Peru and   Trinidad and Tobago
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
  Colombia and   Honduras
12
9 2007   United States  
United States
2–1  
Mexico
  Canada and   Guadeloupe
12
10 2009   United States  
Mexico
5–0  
United States
  Costa Rica and   Honduras
12
11 2011   United States  
Mexico
4–2  
United States
  Honduras and   Panama
12
12 2013   United States  
United States
1–0  
Panama
  Honduras and   Mexico
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
  Costa Rica and   Mexico
12
15 2019   Costa Rica
  Jamaica
  United States
 
Mexico
1–0  
United States
  Haiti and   Jamaica
16
16 2021   United States  
United States
1–0 (a.e.t.)  
Mexico
  Canada and   Qatar
16
17 2023   Canada
  United States
 
Mexico
1–0  
Panama
  Jamaica and   United States
16
18 2025   Canada
  United States
TBD TBD
16
Notes
  1. ^ a b Both teams shared the third position after extra time as a penalty shoot-out was not held.

Summary

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Bold text denotes team was host country.

Team Winners Runners-up Third place Fourth place Semi-finalist Top 4 total
  Mexico 9 (1993, 1996, 1998, 2003, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2019, 2023) 2 (2007, 2021) 1 (1991) 2 (2013, 2017) 14
  United States 7 (1991, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2013, 2017, 2021) 5 (1993, 1998, 2009, 2011, 2019) 2 (1996, 2003) 1 (2015) 1 (2023) 16
  Canada 1 (2000) 1 (2002) 2 (2007, 2021) 4
  Panama 3 (2005, 2013, 2023) 1 (2015) 1 (2011) 5
  Jamaica 2 (2015, 2017) 1 (1993) 1 (1998) 2 (2019, 2023) 6
  Brazil 2 (1996[11], 2003) 1 (1998) 3
  Costa Rica 1 (2002) 1 (1993) 2 (1991, 2003) 2 (2009, 2017) 6
  Honduras 1 (1991) 4 (2005, 2009, 2011, 2013) 5
  Colombia 1 (2000) 1 (2005) 2
  Guatemala 1 (1996) 1
  South Korea 1 (2002) 1
  Guadeloupe 1 (2007) 1
  Haiti 1 (2019) 1
  Peru 1 (2000) 1
  Qatar 1 (2021) 1
  Trinidad and Tobago 1 (2000) 1

Debut of teams

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A total of 31 teams have participated in the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Year Debuting teams
Teams No. CT
1991   Canada,   Costa Rica,   Guatemala,   Honduras,   Jamaica,   Mexico,   Trinidad and Tobago,   United States 8 8
1993   Martinique,   Panama 2 10
1996   Brazil,   El Salvador,   Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 3 13
1998   Cuba 1 14
2000   Colombia,   Haiti,   Peru,   South Korea 4 18
2002   Ecuador 1 19
2003 None 0 19
2005   South Africa 1 20
2007   Guadeloupe 1 21
2009   Grenada,   Nicaragua 2 23
2011 None 0 23
2013   Belize 1 24
2015 None 0 24
2017   Curaçao,   French Guiana 2 26
2019   Bermuda,   Guyana 2 28
2021   Suriname,   Qatar 2 30
2023   Saint Kitts and Nevis 1 31

Records and statistics

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Champions' results in the Confederations Cup

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Qualified via Year Team Result
1991 Gold Cup 1992   United States Third place
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[a]
2015 Gold Cup   Mexico Fourth place
  1. ^ Lost qualifying play-off (CONCACAF Cup) to Mexico.

Awards

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There are currently five post-tournament awards:[12]

  • Best Player – for the best player throughout the tournament
  • Top Scorer – for most prolific goal scorer
  • Best Goalkeeper – for most outstanding goalkeeper
  • Fair Play Award – for the team with the best record of fair play
  • Young Player Award – for the best young player

Invitees

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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.[13] 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.[14][15]

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.[16]

Invitees nations record

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Team Confederation 1996 1998 2000 2002 2003 2005 2021 2023 Editions
  Brazil CONMEBOL 2nd [17] 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

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

Trophy

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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

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References

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  1. ^ a b "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". Archived from the original on 2013-08-19. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  10. ^ "Memo To Concacaf: Stop Holding The Gold Cup Every Two Years". Archived from the original on 2013-08-19. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  11. ^ U-23 Represented
  12. ^ "CONCACAF Gold Cup Regulations 2023" (PDF). CONCACAF. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
  13. ^ "CONCACAF Championship, Gold Cup 1996". Archived from the original on 3 October 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  14. ^ "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.
  15. ^ "2007 Gold Cup Technical Report". ISSUU. 18 December 2013. Archived from the original on 1 August 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  16. ^ "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.
  17. ^ U-23 Represented
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