Copa Centroamericana

The Copa Centroamericana ([ˈkopa sentɾoameɾiˈkana], Spanish for "Central American Cup") was the main association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Unión Centroamericana de Fútbol (UNCAF), the sport's Central American governing body. Held every two years since 1991, in the years before and after the FIFA World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UNCAF Nations Cup (Spanish: Copa de Naciones de la UNCAF), changing to the current name in 2011.

Copa Centroamericana
The final Copa Centroamericana official logo, in use from 2011 to 2017
FoundedFebruary 19, 1991
Abolished2017
RegionCentral America (UNCAF)
Number of teams7
Last champions Honduras
(4th title)
Most successful team(s) Costa Rica
(8 titles)

The tournament consisted of two stages. In the group round of the tournament finals, the seven teams competed in two round-robin groups, one of four teams and the other of three, for points, with the top two teams in each group proceeding. These four teams qualified for the semifinal stage of the final round, 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 Central American Championship tournaments were won by four different national teams: Costa Rica were the most successful national team of the competition with eight victories. Honduras won four 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 final tournament was held in 2017, after which it was absorbed into 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 first place placing 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 UNCAF Nations Cup tournament on February 19, 1991.[3]

Results
Year Host Final Third place match
Champion Score Runner-Up Third Place Score Fourth Place
1991  Costa Rica
Costa Rica		 RR
Honduras
Guatemala		 RR
El Salvador
1993  Honduras
Honduras		 RR
Costa Rica
Panama		 RR
El Salvador
1995  El Salvador
Honduras		 3–0
Guatemala
El Salvador		 2–1
Costa Rica
1997  Guatemala
Costa Rica		 RR
Guatemala
El Salvador		 RR
Honduras
1999  Costa Rica
Costa Rica		 RR
Guatemala
Honduras		 RR
El Salvador
2001  Honduras
Guatemala		 RR
Costa Rica
El Salvador		 RR
Panama
2003  Panama
Costa Rica		 RR
Guatemala
El Salvador		 RR
Honduras
2005  Guatemala
Costa Rica		 1–1
7–6 pen.
Honduras
Guatemala		 3–0
Panama
2007  El Salvador
Costa Rica		 1–1
4–1 pen.
Panama
Guatemala		 1–0
El Salvador
2009  Honduras
Panama		 0–0
5–3 pen.
Costa Rica
Honduras		 1–0
El Salvador
2011  Panama
Honduras		 2–1
Costa Rica
Panama		 0–0
5–4 pen.
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		 RR
Panama
El Salvador		 RR
Costa Rica
  1. ^ Placings decided on a round-robin basis.

Teams reaching the top four
Team Titles Runner-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)
 Nicaragua — — — —
* Hosts

All-time Copa Centroamericana Table
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 29 111 −82 20
7  Belize 33 1 6 26 20 81 −61 9
Updated to match(es) played on 22 January 2017. Source:

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.
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