CONCACAF

The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football[1][2] (CONCACAF /ˈkɒnkəkæf/ KON-kə-kaf; typeset for branding purposes since 2018 as Concacaf)[3] is one of FIFA's six continental governing bodies for association football. Its 41 member associations represent countries and territories mainly in North America, including the Caribbean and Central America, and due to geopolitical reasons, three nations from The Guianas subregion of South AmericaGuyana, Suriname, and French Guiana (an overseas region of France).[4] The CONCACAF's primary functions are to organize competitions for national teams and clubs, and to conduct the World Cup and Women's World Cup qualifying tournaments.

Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF)
AbbreviationCONCACAF
Formation18 September 1961 (1961-09-18)
Founded atMexico City, Mexico
TypeSports organization
HeadquartersMiami, Florida, United States
Coordinates25.773°N 80.138°W / 25.773; -80.138
Region
North America (the Caribbean, Central America, and Northern America)
South America (The Guianas)
Membership
41 member associations
Official language
Victor Montagliani
General Secretary
Philippe Moggio
Parent organization
FIFA
Subsidiaries
WebsiteCONCACAF.com

The CONCACAF was founded in its current form on 18 September 1961 in Mexico City, Mexico, with the merger of the NAFC and the CCCF, which made it one of the then five, now six, continental confederations affiliated with FIFA. Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Netherlands Antilles (Curaçao), Nicaragua, Panama, Suriname and United States were founding members.[5]

The CONCACAF is the third-most successful FIFA confederation. Mexico dominated CONCACAF men's competition early on and has won the most Gold Cups since the beginning of the tournament in its current format. The Mexico national football team is the only CONCACAF team to win an official FIFA tournament by winning the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup. Mexico and the U.S. have won all but one of the editions of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. In recent years Costa Rica and Panama have become powers in the region; in 2014, Costa Rica became the 4th CONCACAF country after the United States, Cuba, and Mexico to make the World Cup quarterfinals, while Panama became the eleventh country from the confederation to participate in the World Cup in 2018. The United States has been very successful in the women's game, being the only CONCACAF member to win all three major worldwide competitions in women's football — the World Cup (4), the Olympics (4), and the Algarve Cup (10). Canada is the only other member to win at least one of the major competitions, winning the Algarve Cup in 2016.

Governance

The CONCACAF is led by a General Secretary, Executive Committee, Congress, and several standing committees. The Executive Committee is composed of eight members — one president, three vice-presidents, three members, and one female member.[6] Each of the three geographic zones in CONCACAF is represented by one vice-president and one member. The Executive Committee carries out the various statutes, regulations, and resolutions.

Leadership

Logo used until 2018

The first leader of CONCACAF was Costa Rican Ramón Coll Jaumet; he had overseen the merger between the North American Football Confederation (NAFC) and the Confederación Centroamericana y del Caribe de Fútbol (CCCF). In 1969, he was succeeded in the role by Mexican Joaquín Soria Terrazas, who served as president for 21 years.

His successor Jack Warner was the CONCACAF president from 1990 to 2011, also for 21 years. Warner was suspended as president on 30 May 2011 due to his temporary suspension from football-related activity by FIFA following corruption allegations.[7] Chuck Blazer was the General Secretary during the same period.[8]

On 20 June 2011, Jack Warner resigned from the presidency of CONCACAF, and removed himself from all participation in football, in the wake of the corruption investigation resulting from 10 May 2011 meeting of the Caribbean Football Union.[9] The vice-president of CONCACAF, Alfredo Hawit, acted as president until May 2012.[10]

In May 2012, Cayman Islands banker Jeffrey Webb was installed as President of CONCACAF. On 27 May 2015, Webb was arrested in Zurich, Switzerland on corruption charges in the U.S.

Victor Montagliani, leader of the Canadian Soccer Association, was elected as president of CONCACAF in May 2016.[11]

Current leaders

Name[12][13] Nation Position
Victor Montagliani  Canada President
Rodolfo Villalobos  Costa Rica Vice president
Sunil Gulati  United States Vice president
Randolph Harris  Barbados Vice president
Yon de Luisa  Mexico Vice president
Philippe Moggio  France General secretary
Jason Roberts  Grenada Technical Director
Sonia Bien-Aime  Cayman Islands Member
Jorge Salomon  Honduras Member

Corporate structure

Nassau, Bahamas
Bridgetown, Barbados
Miami, United States
Guatemala City, Guatemala
Kingston, Jamaica
Locations of CONCACAF offices

CONCACAF is a non-profit company registered in Nassau, Bahamas.

The headquarters of the CONCACAF are located in Miami, United States. Previously it had been the Admiral Financial Center, George Town, Cayman Islands—the home city of former CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb and prior to that, they were based in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago under the presidency of Jack Warner. The administration office of CONCACAF was previously located in Trump Tower, New York when Chuck Blazer was the General Secretary.

In February 2017, a satellite office was opened in Kingston, Jamaica.[14] In July 2017, a second satellite office was opened in Guatemala City, which is shared with UNCAF,[15] and most recently another satellite office for the FIFA Caribbean Development Office[16][17] was opened in Bridgetown, Barbados' suburb of Welches.[18][19]

Members

CONCACAF has 41 member associations:[20]

CodeAssociationNational teamsFoundedFIFA
affiliation
CONCACAF
affiliation
IOC
member
North American Zone (NAFU) (3)
CAN Canada (M, W) 1912 1913 1961 Yes
MEX Mexico (M, W) 1922 1929 1961 Yes
USA United States (M, W) 1913 1914 1961 Yes
Central American Zone (UNCAF) (7)
BLZ Belize (M, W) 1980 1986 1986 Yes
CRC Costa Rica (M, W) 1921 1927 1961 Yes
SLV El Salvador (M, W) 1935 1938 1961 Yes
GUA Guatemala (M, W) 1919 1946 1961 Yes
HON Honduras (M, W) 1935 1951 1961 Yes
NCA Nicaragua (M, W) 1931 1950 1961 Yes
PAN Panama (M, W) 1937 1938 1961 Yes
Caribbean Zone (CFU) (31)
AIA Anguilla (M, W) 1990 1996 1996 No
ATG Antigua and Barbuda (M, W) 1928 1972 between 1961 and 1973 Yes
ARU Aruba (M, W) 1932 1988 1986 Yes
BAH Bahamas (M, W) 1967 1968 between 1961 and 1973 Yes
BRB Barbados (M, W) 1910 1968 1967 Yes
BER Bermuda (M, W) 1928 1962 1967 Yes
BOE Bonaire[m 1] (M, W) 1960 N/A 2014 No
VGB British Virgin Islands (M, W) 1974 1996 1996 Yes
CAY Cayman Islands (M, W) 1966 1992 1990 Yes
CUB Cuba (M, W) 1924 1929 1961 Yes
CUW Curaçao (M, W) 1921 1932 1961 No
DMA Dominica (M, W) 1970 1994 1994 Yes
DOM Dominican Republic (M, W) 1953 1958 1964 Yes
GUF French Guiana (M, W) 1962 N/A 2013 No
GRN Grenada (M, W) 1924 1978 1978 Yes
GLP Guadeloupe[m 1] (M, W) 1958 N/A 2013 No
GUY Guyana (M, W) 1902 1970 between 1969 and 1971 Yes
HAI Haiti (M, W) 1904 1934 1961 Yes
JAM Jamaica (M, W) 1910 1962 1963 Yes
MTQ Martinique[m 1] (M, W) 1953 N/A 2013 No
MSR Montserrat (M, W) 1994 1996 1996 No
PUR Puerto Rico (M, W) 1940 1960 1964 Yes
SKN Saint Kitts and Nevis (M, W) 1932 1992 1992 Yes
LCA Saint Lucia (M, W) 1979 1988 1986 Yes
SMN Saint Martin[m 1] (M, W) 1999 N/A 2013 No
VIN Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (M, W) 1979 1988 1986 Yes
SMA Sint Maarten[m 1] (M, W) 1986 N/A 2013 No
SUR Suriname (M, W) 1920 1929 1961 Yes
TRI Trinidad and Tobago (M, W) 1908 1964 1964 Yes
TCA Turks and Caicos Islands (M, W) 1996 1998 1996 No
VIR U.S. Virgin Islands (M, W) 1992 1998 1987 Yes

M = Men's National Team. W = Women's National Team
N/A: not applicable, not available or no answer.

  1. Full CONCACAF member, but not a FIFA member.

Bonaire were promoted from an association member to a full member at the XXIX Ordinary CONCACAF Congress in São Paulo on 10 June 2014.

Teams not affiliated to the IOC are not eligible to participate in the Summer Olympics football tournament, as a result, they do not participate in the CONCACAF Men's Pre-Olympic Tournament or the CONCACAF Women's Pre-Olympic Tournament.

Non-members

Some territories in the North, Central American and Caribbean region have national teams with no affiliation. All play infrequently and/or are in the early stages of being founded.

The Football Association of Saint Pierre and Miquelon is expected to build a suitable venue with the goal of becoming a member of CONCACAF in September 2021.[21][22]

Membership relation

Elections at the CONCACAF Congress are mandated with a one-member, one-vote rule. The North American Football Union is the smallest association union in the region with only three members, but its nations have strong commercial and marketing support from sponsors and they are the most populous nations in the region.

The Caribbean Football Union has the ability to outvote NAFU and UNCAF with less than half of its membership. Consequently, there is a fractious relationship between members of CFU, UNCAF and NAFU. This provoked former Acting-President Alfredo Hawit to lobby for the CONCACAF Presidency to be rotated between the three unions in CONCACAF in 2011.

Trinidad's Jack Warner presided over CONCACAF for 21 years, and there was little that non-Caribbean nations could do to elect an alternative. Under Warner, the CFU members voted together as a unit with Warner acting as a party whip. It happened with such regularity that sports political commentators referred to the CFU votes as the "Caribbean bloc" vote. Warner rejected the idea in 1993 of merging several smaller nations' national teams into a Pan-Caribbean team. His reasoning was that the nations were more powerful politically when separate than when together. He commented that "being small is never a liability in this sport".[23]

Competitions

CONCACAF continental competitions

The Gold Cup and the Champions League are the two most visible CONCACAF tournaments.[20]

CONCACAF Gold Cup

The CONCACAF Gold Cup, held since 1991, is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF. The Gold Cup is CONCACAF's flagship competition, and generates a significant part of CONCACAF's revenue.[24]

The Gold Cup determines the regional champion of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean, and is held every two years. Starting with the 2019 edition, 16 teams compete for the Gold Cup (up from 12).

CONCACAF Nations League

All men's national teams of member associations take part in the CONCACAF Nations League, a competition created in 2017. National teams are placed into tiers and play matches against teams in the same tier. At the end of each season, teams can be promoted to the tier above or relegated to the tier below depending upon their results.

CONCACAF Champions League

The CONCACAF Champions League, originally known as the CONCACAF Champions' Cup, is an annual continental club association football competition organized by CONCACAF since 1962 for the top football clubs in the region. It is the most prestigious international club competition in North American football. The winner of the Champions League qualifies for the FIFA Club World Cup. The knockout tournament spans February through April.[25]

Since 2018, 16 teams compete in each Champions League; at least 9 from North America, at least 1 from the Caribbean and the remaining 6 from varying CONCACAF countries. The North American teams from Major League Soccer and Liga MX qualify through their national leagues or other national tournaments, while the Caribbean team qualifies through the Caribbean Club Championship; the remaining six teams qualify through the CONCACAF League.

The title has been won by 28 clubs, 13 of which have won the title more than once. Mexican clubs have accumulated the highest number of victories, with 36 titles. The second most successful league has been Costa Rica's Primera División with six titles in total. The most successful club is Club América from Mexico, with seven titles; fellow Mexico side Cruz Azul is just behind with six.

CONCACAF League

Eighteen clubs from Central America, three from the Caribbean, and one from Canada compete in the 2017-established CONCACAF League. The top six teams of the competition are awarded a place in the following year's CONCACAF Champions League.

Current title holders

Competition Year Champions Title Runners-up Next edition
National teams (Men's)
Gold Cup 2019  Mexico 8th  United States 2021
Nations League 2019–20 TBD 1st TBD 2022–23
Pre-Olympic Tournament 2015  Mexico 7th  Honduras 2020
U-20 Championship 2018  United States 2nd  Mexico 2020 Postponed
U-17 Championship 2019  Mexico 7th  United States 2021
U-15 Championship 2019  Mexico 1st  United States 2021
Futsal Championship 2016  Costa Rica 3rd  Panama 2020 Postponed
Beach Soccer Championship 2019  Mexico 4th  United States 2021
National teams (Women's)
Women's Championship 2018  United States 8th  Canada 2022
Women's Nations League 2023–24
Olympic Qualifying Women's Tournament 2020  United States 5th  Canada 2024
U-20 Women's Championship 2020  United States 6th  Mexico 2022
U-17 Women's Championship 2018  United States 4th  Mexico 2022
U-15 Girls' Championship 2018  United States 2nd  Mexico 2020
Club teams (Men's)
Champions League 2020 UANL 1st Los Angeles FC 2021
CONCACAF League 2020 Alajuelense 1st Saprissa 2021
Champions League U13 2019 Philadelphia Union 1st ADFA Santa Ana 2020
Futsal Club Championship 2017 Grupo Line Futsal 1st Elite Futsal TBC

Titles by nation

Nation Men Women Futsal Beach Total
Gold League U20 U17 U15 Gold League U20 U17 U15 Men's Men's
 Mexico11138111439
 United States62386422235
 Canada22221110
 Costa Rica32139
 Honduras1214
 Guatemala112
 Cuba11
 El Salvador11
 Haiti11
 Panama11

    CONMEBOL tournaments

    The following CONMEBOL tournaments have had CONCACAF competitors:

    National teams

    Clubs

    Rankings

    Men's national teams

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