1981 CONCACAF Championship qualification

Last updated May 09, 2025

A total of 15 CONCACAF teams entered the competition. The 15 teams were divided into 3 zones, based on geographical considerations, as follows:

North American Zone had 3 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner and runner-up would advance to the Final Round.
Central American Zone had 5 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner and runner-up would advance to the Final Round.
Caribbean Zone had 7 teams, which would be divided into 2 groups - Group A had 4 teams and Group B had 3 teams. 2 teams in Group A played in the preliminary round, against each other on a home-and-away basis, with the winner advancing to Group A proper. The 3 teams in each group would then play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would advance to the Final Round.

Entrants

North American Zone

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Canada	4	1	3	0	4	3	+1	5
2	Mexico	4	1	2	1	8	5	+3	4
3	United States	4	1	1	2	4	8	−4	3

Source: http://allworldcup.narod.ru/1982/CONCACAF.HTM#M1

18 October 1980

Canada	1–1	Mexico
Stojanović 43'		Luna 89'

Exhibition Stadium, Toronto

Attendance: 6,371

Referee: Siles Calderón (Costa Rica)

25 October 1980

United States	0–0	Canada

Lockhart Stadium, Fort Lauderdale

Attendance: 7,864

Referee: Herrera García (El Salvador)

1 November 1980

Canada	2–1	United States
Iarusci 21' Šegota 42' (pen.)		Villa 90'

Empire Stadium, Vancouver

Attendance: 13,598

Referee: Méndez Molina (Guatemala)

9 November 1980

Mexico	5–1	United States
Sánchez 24' Camacho 31', 55' Mendizabal 37' González 40'		Davis 76' (pen.)

Estadio Azteca, Mexico City

Attendance: 90,000

Referee: Valverde Salazar (Costa Rica)

16 November 1980

Mexico	1–1	Canada
Sánchez 75' (pen.)		Gray 87'

Estadio Azteca, Mexico City

Attendance: 108,000

Referee: Midence Torres (Honduras)

23 November 1980

United States	2–1	Mexico
Moyers 31', 65'		Sánchez 40'

Lockhart Stadium, Fort Lauderdale

Attendance: 2,126

Referee: Gracias Regalado (Guatemala)

Canada and Mexico advanced to the finals.

Central American Zone

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Honduras	8	5	2	1	15	5	+10	12
2	El Salvador	8	5	2	1	12	5	+7	12
3	Guatemala	8	3	3	2	10	2	+8	9
4	Costa Rica	8	1	4	3	6	10	−4	6
5	Panama	8	0	1	7	3	24	−21	1

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

2 July 1980

Panama	0–2	Guatemala
		Gómez 27' Mitrovich 49'

Estadio de la Revolución , Panama City, Panama

Attendance: 11,000

Referee: Robert Evans (United States)

30 July 1980

Panama	0–2	Honduras
		Bernárdez 14' Costly 85'

Estadio de la Revolución , Panama City, Panama

Attendance: 8,975

Referee: Hubert Tromp (Netherlands Antilles)

10 August 1980

Panama	1–1	Costa Rica
Montillo 37'		Arroyo 73'

Estadio de la Revolución , Panama City, Panama

Attendance: 5,678

Referee: Goede (Suriname)

24 August 1980

Panama	1–3	El Salvador
Paschal 19'		Rivas 16' Huezo 75' González 82'

Estadio de la Revolución , Panama City, Panama

Attendance: 3,547

Referee: Frederick Hoyte (Barbados)

1 October 1980

Costa Rica	2–3	Honduras
Javier Jiménez 78' (pen.) Mills 81'		Bulnes 29' Bernárdez 42' Bailey 67'

Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá , San José, Costa Rica

Attendance: 18,263

Referee: Soupliotis (Canada)

5 October 1980

El Salvador	4–1	Panama
González 2', 61', 77' Rivas 35'		Montillo 27'

Estadio Cuscatlán , San Salvador, El Salvador

Attendance: 33,005

Referee: Winsemann (Canada)

12 October 1980

Guatemala	0–0	Costa Rica

Estadio Mateo Flores , Guatemala City, Guatemala

Attendance: 40,000

Referee: Narvaez Escobar (Mexico)

26 October 1980

Honduras	0–0	Guatemala

Estadio Nacional Chelato Uclés , Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Attendance: 44,220

Referee: Dorantes García (Mexico)

26 October 1980

El Salvador	2–0 (w/o)	Costa Rica
		Costa Rica refused to travel to El Salvador for security reasons. FIFA awarded 2–0 win to El Salvador.^[1]

Estadio Cuscatlán , San Salvador, El Salvador

Referee: Domingo de la Mora (Mexico)

5 November 1980

Costa Rica	2–0	Panama
Morera 14' W. Jiménez 48' (pen.)

Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica , San José, Costa Rica

Attendance: 7,873

Referee: Dante Maglio (Canada)

9 November 1980

Guatemala	0–0	El Salvador

Estadio Mateo Flores , Guatemala City, Guatemala

Attendance: 42,453

Referee: David Socha (United States)

16 November 1980

Guatemala	5–0	Panama
Sánchez 11' Gómez 26', 69' Mitrovich 55' Wellmann 85'

Estadio Mateo Flores , Guatemala City, Guatemala

Attendance: 32,216

Referee: Johnson (Canada)

16 November 1980

Honduras	1–1	Costa Rica
Velásquez 77'		Morera 33'

Estadio Nacional Chelato Uclés , Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Attendance: 28,159

Referee: David Socha (United States)

23 November 1980

El Salvador	2–1	Honduras
González 9' Guerrero 66'		Figueroa 85'

Estadio Cuscatlán , San Salvador, El Salvador

Attendance: 40,851

Referee: Fusco (Canada)

26 November 1980

Costa Rica	0–3	Guatemala
		Pennant 27' Sánchez 64' (pen.) Gómez 88'

Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá , San José, Costa Rica

Attendance: 17,042

Referee: Matos (Canada)

30 November 1980

Honduras	2–0	El Salvador
Bailey 23', 66'

Estadio Nacional Chelato Uclés , Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Attendance: 38,979

Referee: Tony Evangelista (Canada)

7 December 1980

Guatemala	0–1	Honduras
		Bailey 71'

Estadio Mateo Flores , Guatemala City, Guatemala

Attendance: 42,381

Referee: Kibritjian (United States)

10 December 1980

Costa Rica	0–0	El Salvador

Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá , San José, Costa Rica

Attendance: 3,284

Referee: Rubio Vasquez (Mexico)

14 December 1980

Honduras	5–0	Panama
Bernárdez 6', 21', 69' Figueroa 32', 77'

Estadio Nacional Chelato Uclés , Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Attendance: 25,000

Referee: Mendoza Guillen (Mexico)

21 December 1980

El Salvador	1–0	Guatemala
Huezo 49'

Estadio Cuscatlán , San Salvador, El Salvador

Attendance: 22,813

Referee: D'Ippolito (United States)

Honduras and El Salvador advanced to the finals.

Caribbean Zone

Group A Preliminary Round

30 March 1980

Guyana	5–2	Grenada
Braithwaite 33' (pen.) Watson 50', 87' Canterbury 56' Forde 57'		Julien 15' Belfon 17'

Bourda , Georgetown, Guyana

Attendance: 5,000

Referee: José Leonidas Rogel (El Salvador)

13 April 1980

Grenada	2–3	Guyana
Cherubin 56' Mitchell 87' (pen.)		Watson 13', 38' Canterbury 16'

National Cricket Stadium , Saint George's, Grenada

Attendance: 1,298

Referee: Juan Ramón Mollinero (Guatemala)

Guyana won 8-4 on aggregate and advanced to Group A.

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Cuba	4	3	1	0	7	0	+7	7
2	Suriname	4	2	1	1	5	3	+2	5
3	Guyana	4	0	0	4	0	9	−9	0

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

17 August 1980

Cuba	3–0	Suriname
Delgado 69' Pereira 71', 78'

Estadio Pedro Marrero , Havana, Cuba

Attendance: 6,000

Referee: Antonio Márquez (Mexico)

7 September 1980

Suriname	0–0	Cuba

André Kamperveen Stadion , Paramaribo, Suriname

Attendance: 4,000

Referee: Hubert Tromp (Netherlands Antilles)

28 September 1980

Guyana	0–1	Suriname
		Stjeward 22'

Bourda , Georgetown, Guyana

Attendance: 6,000

Referee: Reginald Wooding (Trinidad and Tobago)

12 October 1980

Suriname	4–0	Guyana
Leisbergen 20', 40' George 22' Calor 80'

André Kamperveen Stadion , Paramaribo, Suriname

Attendance: 10,000

Referee: L. De Boer (Netherlands Antilles)

9 November 1980

Cuba	1–0	Guyana
Hernández 14'

Estadio Pedro Marrero , Havana, Cuba

Attendance: 8,000

Referee: Whilston Taylor (Jamaica)

30 November 1980

Guyana	0–3	Cuba
		Hernández 8' Espinosa 17' Roldán 18'

McKenzie Sports Club Ground, Linden, Guyana

Attendance: 7,664

Referee: R. Goede (Suriname)

Cuba advanced to the finals.

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Haiti	4	2	1	1	4	2	+2	5
2	Trinidad and Tobago	4	1	2	1	1	2	−1	4
3	Netherlands Antilles	4	0	3	1	1	2	−1	3

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

1 August 1980

Haiti	2–0	Trinidad and Tobago
Crispin 84' Bobo 89'	Report

Stade Sylvio Cator , Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Attendance: 15,000

Referee: Marcel Pérez (Mexico)

17 August 1980

Trinidad and Tobago	1–0	Haiti
Spann 55' (pen.)

Skinner Park , San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago

Attendance: 5,535

Referee: Carlos Monge (Costa Rica)

12 September 1980

Haiti	1–0	Netherlands Antilles
Brevin 74'

Stade Sylvio Cator , Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Attendance: 8,606

Referee: Whilston Taylor (Jamaica)

9 November 1980

Trinidad and Tobago	0–0	Netherlands Antilles

Queen's Park Oval , Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago

Attendance: 5,000

Referee: Frederick Hoyte (Barbados)

29 November 1980

Netherlands Antilles	0–0	Trinidad and Tobago

Ergilio Hato Stadium , Willemstad, Netherlands Antilles

Attendance: 7,991

Referee: Glenn Kranenburg (Suriname)

12 December 1980

Netherlands Antilles	1–1	Haiti
Kwidama 73'		Crispin 3'

Ergilio Hato Stadium , Willemstad, Netherlands Antilles

Attendance: 6,467

Referee: Domingo De la Mora (Mexico)

Haiti advanced to the finals.

Qualified Teams

Canada (CONCACAF North American Zone Winners)
Mexico (CONCACAF North American Zone Runners-up)
Honduras (CONCACAF Central American Zone Winners)
El Salvador (CONCACAF Central American Zone Runners-up)
Cuba (CONCACAF Caribbean Zone Group 1 Winners)
Haiti (CONCACAF Caribbean Zone Group 2 Winners)

Goalscorers

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

José Roberto Figueroa

2 goals

1 goal

References

↑ Buzón de Rodrigo

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[1] Buzón de Rodrigo

[1]

v t e CONCACAF Championship
Editions	El Salvador 1963 Guatemala 1965 Honduras 1967 Costa Rica 1969 Trinidad and Tobago 1971 Haiti 1973 Mexico 1977 Honduras 1981 1985 (No fixed venue) 1989 (No fixed venue)
Qualification	1963 1965 1967 1969 1971 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989
Successor: CONCACAF Gold Cup (since 1991)

v t e 1982 FIFA World Cup qualification
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1981 CONCACAF Championship qualification

Contents

Entrants

North American Zone

Central American Zone

Caribbean Zone

Group A Preliminary Round

Group A

Group B

Qualified Teams

Goalscorers

References