The CONCACAF Championship, also known as CONCACAF Nations Championship, was an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament was held from 1963 to 1989; it was the direct predecessor of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Prior to the founding of CONCACAF in 1961, the predecessor confederations (NAFC and CCCF) organized their top senior national team tournaments, NAFC Championship for North America (1947 and 1949), and CCCF Championship for Central America and the Caribbean (1941–1961) before the merged to form CONCACAF.

The inaugural edition was held in 1963 and was CONCACAF's first tournament for national teams. The competition retained its tournament format and was played on a biennial basis for a decade.

In 1973 the tournament became the qualifying tournament for the FIFA World Cup and was played on a quadrennial basis. The CONCACAF trophy was given to the team that ranked highest in the qualifying group. In 1985 and 1989, there was no host nation for the competition.

Results

Ed.YearHostsChampionsRunners-upThird placeFourth placeTeams
11963El SalvadorCosta RicaEl SalvadorNetherlands AntillesHonduras9
21965GuatemalaMexicoGuatemalaCosta RicaEl Salvador6
31967HondurasGuatemalaMexicoHondurasTrinidad and Tobago6
41969Costa RicaCosta RicaGuatemalaNetherlands AntillesMexico6
51971Trinidad and TobagoMexicoHaitiCosta RicaCuba6
61973HaitiHaitiTrinidad and TobagoMexicoHonduras6
71977MexicoMexicoHaitiEl SalvadorCanada6
81981HondurasHondurasEl SalvadorMexicoCanada6
91985North AmericaCanadaHondurasCosta RicaEl Salvador9
101989North AmericaCosta RicaUnited StatesTrinidad and TobagoGuatemala5

Performances

TeamChampionsRunners-upThird placeFourth placeTotal
Mexico3 (1965, 1971, 1977)1 (1967)2 (1973, 1981)1 (1969)7
Costa Rica3 (1963, 1969, 1989)–3 (1965, 1971, 1985)–6
Guatemala1 (1967)2 (1965, 1969)–1 (1989)4
Haiti1 (1973)2 (1971, 1977)––3
Honduras1 (1981)1 (1985)1 (1967)2 (1963, 1973)5
Canada1 (1985)––2 (1977, 1981)3
El Salvador–2 (1963, 1981)1 (1977)2 (1965, 1985)5
Trinidad and Tobago–1 (1973)1 (1989)1 (1967)3
United States–1 (1989)––1
Netherlands Antilles––2 (1963, 1969)–2
Cuba–––1 (1971)1

Notes

Italic — Hosts

Debut of teams

A total of 15 national teams participated in the competition:

EditionDebuting teamsNo.Total
1963Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Netherlands Antilles, Panama99
1965Haiti110
1967Trinidad and Tobago111
1969–011
1971Cuba112
1973–012
1977Canada, Suriname214
1981–014
1985United States115
1989–015

Records and statistics

Overall statistics by team

In this ranking 2 points are awarded for a win, 1 for a draw and 0 for a loss. As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws. Teams are ranked by total points, then by goal difference, then by goals scored.

RankTeamPartPldWDLGFGADifPts
1Mexico838221067824+5454
2Costa Rica637201166427+3751
3Guatemala8391512125840+1842
4Honduras6351212114241+136
5El Salvador6321110114340+332
6Trinidad and Tobago632107153650-1427
7Haiti734107173351-1827
8Canada3188732418+623
9United States212642106+416
10Netherlands Antilles42155112755-2815
11Cuba210244915-68
12Panama1412184+44
13Suriname29018826-181
14Nicaragua29018527-221
15Jamaica28017426-221

Competitive records

Legend

  • 1st – Champions
  • 2nd – Runners-up
  • 3rd – Third place
  • 4th – Fourth place
  • SF – Semifinals
  • QF – Quarterfinals
  • GS – Group stage
  • Q – Qualified for upcoming tournament
  • • – Did not qualify
  • •× – Disqualified
  • × – Did not enter / Withdrew / Banned
  • – Hosts

For each tournament, the number of teams in each finals tournament are shown (in parentheses).

Team (15)El Salvador national football team 1963 (9)Guatemala national football team 1965 (6)Honduras national football team 1967 (6)Costa Rica national football team 1969 (6)Trinidad and Tobago national football team 1971 (6)Haiti national football team 1973 (6)Mexico national football team 1977 (6)Honduras national football team 1981 (6)1985 (9)1989 (5)Times enteredTimes qualified
Canada××××ו4th4th1st•53
Costa Rica1st3rd×1st3rd•••3rd1st96
Cuba×ו×4thוGSו52
El Salvador2nd4thו×ו3rd2nd4thGS76
GuatemalaGS2nd1st2nd•GSGS•GS4th108
Haiti•GSGS•×2nd1st2ndGSGS×97
Honduras4th•3rd•×GS4th•1st2nd•106
JamaicaGSוGS•×××ו52
MexicoGS1st2nd4th1st3rd1st3rdו×88
Netherlands Antilles3rdGS•3rd×GS••••84
NicaraguaGS•GSו•××××52
PanamaGSו•×ו•••71
Suriname××××וGS•GS×42
Trinidad and Tobago××4thGSGS2ndGS••3rd86
United States××וו••GS2nd62
Team (15)9666666695Times enteredTimes qualified

Top goalscorers

Octavio Muciño of Mexico is one of the two players to score four goals in CONCACAF Championship (1973)
EditionPlayerGoals
1963El Salvador national football team Eduardo Hernández6
1965Mexico national football team Ernesto Cisneros5
1967Guatemala national football team Manuel Recinos4
1969Costa Rica national football team Victor Manuel Ruiz4
1971Mexico national football team Roberto Rodríguez4
1973Trinidad and Tobago national football team Steve David7
1977Mexico national football team Víctor Rangel6
1981Mexico national football team Hugo Sánchez3
1985Honduras national football team Roberto Figueroa5
1989Guatemala national football team Raúl Chacón Guatemala national football team Julio Rodas Costa Rica national football team Evaristo Coronado Costa Rica national football team Juan Arnoldo Cayasso Costa Rica national football team Leonidas Flores Trinidad and Tobago national football team Leonson Lewis Trinidad and Tobago national football team Kerry Jamerson Trinidad and Tobago national football team Philibert Jones2

Hat-tricks

CONCACAF Championship hat-tricks
SequencePlayerTime of goalsForResultAgainstTournamentRoundDate
1.Juan Gonzalez17', 22', 72'Costa Rica4–1El Salvador1963Final round3 April 1963
2.Javier Fragoso57', 71', 85'Mexico5–0Netherlands Antilles1965Final tournament1 April 1965
3.Raúl Arellano Gallo36', 53', 85'Mexico4–0Nicaragua1967Final tournament6 March 1967
4.Víctor Ruiz?',?',?'Costa Rica5–0Trinidad and Tobago1969Final tournament4 December 1969
5.Emmanuel Sanon?',?',?',?'Haiti6–1Trinidad and Tobago1971Final tournament28 November 1971
6.Octavio Muciño32', 45', 46', 82'Mexico8–0Netherlands Antilles1973Final round8 December 1973
7.Steve David15', 51', 62'Trinidad and Tobago4–0Netherlands Antilles1973Final round17 December 1973
8.Hugo Sánchez46', 70', 82'Mexico4–1Haiti1977Final round9 September 1977

Winning managers

EditionManagerNationSource
1963Costa Rica Mario CorderoCosta Rica
1965Mexico Ignacio TrellesMexico
1967Uruguay Rubén AmorínGuatemala
1969Spain Eduardo Viso AbellaCosta Rica
1971Mexico Javier de la TorreMexico
1973Haiti Antoine TassyHaiti
1977Mexico José Antonio RocaMexico
1981Honduras José de la Paz HerreraHonduras
1985England Tony WaitersCanada
1989Costa Rica Marvin RodríguezCosta Rica

Hosts and defending champions

Hosts

Time(s)NationEdition(s)
2Honduras Honduras1967, 1981
1El Salvador1963
1Guatemala1965
1Costa Rica1969
1Trinidad and Tobago1971
1Haiti1973
1Mexico1977

Host results

EditionHostsResult
Edition Hosts Result 1963 El Salvador Runners-up 1965 Guatemala Runners-up 1967 Honduras Third place 1969 Costa Rica Champions 1971 Trinidad and Tobago Fifth place 1973 Haiti Champions 1977 Mexico Champions 1981 Honduras ChampionsDefending champions Edition Defending champions Result 1965 Costa Rica Third place 1967 Mexico Runners-up 1969 Guatemala Runners-up 1971 Costa Rica Third place 1973 Mexico Third place 1977 Haiti Runners-up 1981 Mexico Third place 1985 Honduras Runners-up 1989 Canada Did not qualify
1963El SalvadorRunners-up
1965GuatemalaRunners-up
1967HondurasThird place
1969Costa RicaChampions
1971Trinidad and TobagoFifth place
1973HaitiChampions
1977MexicoChampions
1981HondurasChampions
EditionDefending championsResult
1965Costa RicaThird place
1967MexicoRunners-up
1969GuatemalaRunners-up
1971Costa RicaThird place
1973MexicoThird place
1977HaitiRunners-up
1981MexicoThird place
1985HondurasRunners-up
1989CanadaDid not qualify

See also