Copa Centroamericana

{{About|the defunct national team competition|the current club tournament|CONCACAF Central American Cup|the former club tournament|Campeonato Centroamericano}} {{Infobox football tournament | name = Copa Centroamericana/Copa de Naciones UNCAF | current = | image = 250px | caption = Official logo of the competition as Copa Centroamericana (2011–2017) | organiser = UNCAF | founded = {{start date and age|1991}}, ''as Copa de Naciones UNCAF'' | abolished = {{end date and age|2017}} | region = Central America | related comps = North American Nations Cup Caribbean Cup/CFU Championship | number of teams = 7 | current champions = {{fb|HON|1949}} (4th title) | most successful team = {{fb|CRC}} (8 titles) | broadcasters = | website = }}

The '''Copa Centroamericana''' ({{Langx|en|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''' ({{Langx|en|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.<ref name="Reference 1">{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=BZGggv0hN9sC&dat=19910124&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |title=Torneo de Naciones de CONCACAF: Costa Rica busca la ratificacion de sede |trans-title=CONCACAF Nations Cup: Costa Rica looks for ratification on host bid |page=39A |work=La Nación |format=Web |date=January 25, 1991 |access-date=October 13, 2014 |language=es }}</ref> 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.<ref name="Reference 1" /> However, due to mainly economic reasons, the United States were chosen as the venue for the continental tournament.<ref name="Reference 2">{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=BZGggv0hN9sC&dat=19910127&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |title=En Julio Copa de Naciones |trans-title=Nations Cup in July |page=42A |work=La Nación |format=Web |date=January 27, 1991 |access-date=October 13, 2014 |language=es }}</ref>

During that same conference, the qualification format for the Central American associations were also decided on.<ref name="Reference 1" /> The final qualification round of the Central American zone had two bids: the United States and Costa Rica.<ref name="Reference 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.<ref name="Reference 4">{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=BZGggv0hN9sC&dat=19910220&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |title=Torneo de Naciones Inicia el 26 de Mayo |trans-title=Nations Cup starts May 26 |page=29A |work=La Nación |format=Web |date=February 20, 1991 |access-date=October 13, 2014 |language=es }}</ref>

==Participating teams== The 7 UNCAF members participated on the tournament:

*{{fb|BLZ}} *{{fb|CRC}} *{{fb|SLV}} *{{fb|GUA}} *{{fb|HON}} *{{fb|NCA}} *{{fb|PAN}}

==Results== {|class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |- !# !Year !Hosts !style="background:gold"|Champions !Results !style="background:silver"|Runners-up !style="background:#c96"|Third place !Results !style="background:#9acddf|Fourth place !Teams |- |- bgcolor=#cccccc align=center |colspan=10|'''Copa de Naciones UNCAF''' |- |1 |1991||{{flag|Costa Rica}}||{{fb|CRC}}||rowspan=2|''Round-Robin''||{{fb|HON|1949}}||{{fb|GUA}}||rowspan=2|''Round-Robin''||{{fb|SLV}} |4 |- |2 |1993||{{flag|Honduras|1949}}||{{fb|HON|1949}}||{{fb|CRC}}||{{fb|PAN}}||{{fb|SLV}} |5 |- |3 |1995||{{flag|El Salvador}}||{{fb|HON|1949}}||3–0||{{fb|GUA}}||{{fb|SLV}}||2–1||{{fb|CRC}} |7 |- |4 |1997||{{flag|Guatemala}}||{{fb|CRC}}||rowspan=4|''Round-Robin''||{{fb|GUA}}||{{fb|SLV}}||rowspan=4|''Round-Robin''||{{fb|HON|1949}} |7 |- |5 |1999||{{flag|Costa Rica}}||{{fb|CRC}}||{{fb|GUA}}||{{fb|HON|1949}}||{{fb|SLV}} |6 |- |6 |2001||{{flag|Honduras|1949}}||{{fb|GUA}}||{{fb|CRC}}||{{fb|SLV}}||{{fb|PAN}} |7 |- |7 |2003||{{flag|Panama}}||{{fb|CRC}}||{{fb|GUA}}||{{fb|SLV}}||{{fb|HON|1949}} |6 |- |8 |2005||{{flag|Guatemala}}||{{fb|CRC}}||1–1 {{pso|7–6}}||{{fb|HON|1949}}||{{fb|GUA}}||3–0||{{fb|PAN}} |7 |- |9 |2007||{{flag|El Salvador}}||{{fb|CRC}}||1–1 {{pso|4–1}}||{{fb|PAN}}||{{fb|GUA}}||1–0||{{fb|SLV}} |7 |- |10 |2009||{{flag|Honduras|1949}}||{{fb|PAN}}||0–0 {{pso|5–3}}||{{fb|CRC}}||{{fb|HON|1949}}||1–0||{{fb|SLV}} |7 |- |- bgcolor=#cccccc align=center |colspan=10|'''Copa Centroamericana''' |- |11 |2011||{{flag|Panama}}||{{fb|HON|1949}}||2–1||{{fb|CRC}}||{{fb|PAN}}||0–0 {{pso|5–4}}||{{fb|SLV}} |7 |- |12 |2013||{{flag|Costa Rica}}||{{fb|CRC}}||1–0||{{fb|HON|1949}}||{{fb|SLV}}||1–0||{{fb|BLZ|1981}} |7 |- |13 |2014||{{flag|United States}}||{{fb|CRC}}||2–1||{{fb|GUA}}||{{fb|PAN}}||1–0||{{fb|SLV}} |7 |- |14 |2017||{{flag|Panama}}||{{fb|HON|1949}}||''Round-Robin''||{{fb|PAN}}||{{fb|SLV}}||''Round-Robin''||{{fb|CRC}} |6 |}

==Performances== ===Top 4=== {|class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |- !Team !Champions !Runners-up !Third place !Fourth place !Total |- |align=left|{{fb|CRC}} |style="background:gold"|8 (''1991'', 1997, ''1999'', 2003, 2005, 2007, ''2013'', 2014) |style="background:silver"|4 (1993, 2001, 2009, 2011) |– |style="background:#9acddf"|2 (1995, 2017) |14 |- |align=left|{{fb|HON|1949}} |style="background:gold"|4 (''1993'', 1995, 2011, 2017) |style="background:silver"|3 (1991, 2005, 2013) |style="background:#c96"|2 (1999, 2009) |style="background:#9acddf"|2 (1997, 2003) |11 |- |align=left|{{fb|GUA}} |style="background:gold"|1 (2001) |style="background:silver"|5 (1995, ''1997'', 1999, 2003, 2014) |style="background:#c96"|3 (1991, 2005, 2007) |– |9 |- |align=left|{{fb|PAN}} |style="background:gold"|1 (2009) |style="background:silver"|2 (2007, ''2017'') |style="background:#c96"|3 (1993, ''2011'', 2014) |style="background:#9acddf"|2 (2001, 2005) |8 |- |align=left|{{fb|SLV}} |– |– |style="background:#c96"|6 (''1995'', 1997, 2001, 2003, 2013, 2017) |style="background:#9acddf"|7 (1991, 1993, 1999, ''2007'', 2009, 2011, 2014) |13 |- |align=left|{{fb|BLZ|1981}} |– |– |– |style="background:#9acddf"|1 (2013) |1 |} ;Notes: ''Italic'' — Hosts ===Medals=== {{Medals table | caption = | host = | flag_template = | event = | team = | gold_CRC = 8 | silver_CRC = 4 | bronze_CRC = 0 | gold_HON = 4 | silver_HON = 3 | bronze_HON = 2 | gold_GUA = 1 | silver_GUA = 5 | bronze_GUA = 3 | gold_PAN = 1 | silver_PAN = 2 | bronze_PAN = 3 | gold_ESA = 0 | silver_ESA = 0 | bronze_ESA = 6 }}

==Overall statistics==

{{#invoke:Sports table|main|style=WDL |showteam= |only_pld_pts= |show_matches=

|name_BLZ={{fb|BLZ|1981}} |name_CRC={{fb|CRC}} |name_GUA={{fb|GUA}} |name_HON={{fb|HON|1949}} |name_NCA={{fb|NCA}} |name_PAN={{fb|PAN}} |name_SLV={{fb|SLV}}

|team1=CRC |team2=HON |team3=GUA |team4=SLV |team5=PAN |team6=NCA |team7=BLZ }}

==References== {{Reflist|30em}}

==External links== * {{Official website|http://uncafut.com/web/copa-centroamericana|UNCAF's official site for the Copa Centroamericana}} {{in lang|es}} * {{Official website|http://www.concacaf.com/category/central-american-cup|CONCACAF's official site for the Copa Centroamericana}} {{in lang|en|es}}

Category:Copa Centroamericana Category:International association football competitions in Central America Category:Men's international association football competitions in North America Category:Defunct international association football competitions in North America Nations Cup Category:Association football competitions in North America for men's national teams Category:CONCACAF Gold Cup qualification Category:1991 establishments in North America Category:2017 disestablishments in North America Category:Recurring sporting events established in 1991 Category:Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2017