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Copa Centroamericana

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Copa Centroamericana/Copa de Naciones UNCAF
Official logo of the competition as Copa Centroamericana (2011–2017)
Founded1991; 33 years ago (1991), as Copa de Naciones UNCAF
Abolished2017; 7 years ago (2017), as Copa Centroamericana
RegionCentral America
Number of teams7
Related competitionsNorth 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

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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

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The seven UNCAF members participated on the tournament:

 Belize
 Costa Rica
 El Salvador
 Guatemala
 Honduras
 Nicaragua
 Panama

Editions

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Edition Hosts Final Third place match
Champions Results Runners-up Third place Results Fourth place
1991  Costa Rica  Costa Rica Round-Robin  Honduras  Guatemala Round-Robin  El Salvador
1993  Honduras  Honduras Round-Robin  Costa Rica  Panama Round-Robin  El Salvador
1995  El Salvador  Honduras 3–0  Guatemala  El Salvador 2–1  Costa Rica
1997  Guatemala  Costa Rica Round-Robin  Guatemala  El Salvador Round-Robin  Honduras
1999  Costa Rica  Costa Rica Round-Robin  Guatemala  Honduras Round-Robin  El Salvador
2001  Honduras  Guatemala Round-Robin  Costa Rica  El Salvador Round-Robin  Panama
2003  Panama  Costa Rica Round-Robin  Guatemala  El Salvador Round-Robin  Honduras
2005  Guatemala  Costa Rica 1–1
(7–6 p)
 Honduras  Guatemala 3–0  Panama
2007  El Salvador  Costa Rica 1–1
(4–1 p)
 Panama  Guatemala 1–0  El Salvador
2009  Honduras  Panama 0–0
(5–3 p)
 Costa Rica  Honduras 1–0  El Salvador
2011  Panama  Honduras 2–1  Costa Rica  Panama 0–0
(5–4 p)
 El Salvador
2013  Costa Rica  Costa Rica 1–0  Honduras  El Salvador 1–0  Belize
2014  United States  Costa Rica 2–1  Guatemala  Panama 1–0  El Salvador
2017  Panama  Honduras Round-Robin  Panama  El Salvador Round-Robin  Costa Rica

Champions

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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

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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
Updated to match(es) played on 22 January 2017. Source: [citation needed]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ "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.
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