Copa Centroamericana

This article is about the defunct national team competition. For the current club tournament, see CONCACAF Central American Cup. For the former club tournament, see Campeonato Centroamericano.

Copa Centroamericana/Copa de Naciones UNCAF

Official logo of the competition as Copa Centroamericana (2011–2017)
Organising body	UNCAF
Founded	1991;34 years ago (1991), as Copa de Naciones UNCAF
Abolished	2017;8 years ago (2017)
Region	Central America
Number of teams	7
Related competitions	North 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 an association football competition organized by UNCAF as its top regional tournament for men's senior national teams from Central America. The tournament was held from 1991 to 2017, every two years in the years before and after the FIFA World Cup and also served as a qualification method for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. It was originally known as 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

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

The 7 UNCAF members participated on the tournament:

•   Belize
•   Costa Rica
•   El Salvador
•   Guatemala
•   Honduras
•   Nicaragua
•   Panama

Results

#	Year	Hosts	Champions	Results	Runners-up	Third place	Results	Fourth place	Teams
Copa de Naciones UNCAF
1	1991	Costa Rica	Costa Rica	Round-Robin	Honduras	Guatemala	Round-Robin	El Salvador	4
2	1993	Honduras	Honduras		Costa Rica	Panama		El Salvador	5
3	1995	El Salvador	Honduras	3–0	Guatemala	El Salvador	2–1	Costa Rica	7
4	1997	Guatemala	Costa Rica	Round-Robin	Guatemala	El Salvador	Round-Robin	Honduras	7
5	1999	Costa Rica	Costa Rica		Guatemala	Honduras		El Salvador	6
6	2001	Honduras	Guatemala		Costa Rica	El Salvador		Panama	7
7	2003	Panama	Costa Rica		Guatemala	El Salvador		Honduras	6
8	2005	Guatemala	Costa Rica	1–1 (7–6 p)	Honduras	Guatemala	3–0	Panama	7
9	2007	El Salvador	Costa Rica	1–1 (4–1 p)	Panama	Guatemala	1–0	El Salvador	7
10	2009	Honduras	Panama	0–0 (5–3 p)	Costa Rica	Honduras	1–0	El Salvador	7
Copa Centroamericana
11	2011	Panama	Honduras	2–1	Costa Rica	Panama	0–0 (5–4 p)	El Salvador	7
12	2013	Costa Rica	Costa Rica	1–0	Honduras	El Salvador	1–0	Belize	7
13	2014	United States	Costa Rica	2–1	Guatemala	Panama	1–0	El Salvador	7
14	2017	Panama	Honduras	Round-Robin	Panama	El Salvador	Round-Robin	Costa Rica	6

Performances

Top 4

Team	Champions	Runners-up	Third place	Fourth place	Total
Costa Rica	8 ( 1991 , 1997, 1999 , 2003, 2005, 2007, 2013 , 2014)	4 (1993, 2001, 2009, 2011)	–	2 (1995, 2017)	14
Honduras	4 ( 1993 , 1995, 2011, 2017)	3 (1991, 2005, 2013)	2 (1999, 2009)	2 (1997, 2003)	11
Guatemala	1 (2001)	5 (1995, 1997 , 1999, 2003, 2014)	3 (1991, 2005, 2007)	–	9
Panama	1 (2009)	2 (2007, 2017 )	3 (1993, 2011 , 2014)	2 (2001, 2005)	8
El Salvador	–	–	6 ( 1995 , 1997, 2001, 2003, 2013, 2017)	7 (1991, 1993, 1999, 2007 , 2009, 2011, 2014)	13
Belize	–	–	–	1 (2013)	1

Notes

Italic — Hosts

Medals

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Costa Rica  (CRC)	8	4	0	12
2	Honduras  (HON)	4	3	2	9
3	Guatemala  (GUA)	1	5	3	9
4	Panama  (PAN)	1	2	3	6
5	El Salvador  (ESA)	0	0	6	6
Totals (5 entries)		14	14	14	42

Overall statistics

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 unknown. Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

See also

• UNCAF
• NAFU
• CFU
• North American Nations Cup
• Caribbean Cup/CFU Championship

References

1. "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. "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.

External links

• UNCAF's official site for the Copa Centroamericana (in Spanish)
• CONCACAF's official site for the Copa Centroamericana (in English and Spanish)