Continental Championships.

North and Central America and the Caribbean (Concacaf Gold Cup)

The Championship for North and Central America and the Caribbean has been organised since 1991 under the name of "Concacaf Gold Cup".

Concacaf is the football organisation for the North and Central American and the Caribbean countries including a number of South American countries like: Guyana, French Guiana and Surinam.

However, matches for the Championship of this continent have been played already since 1941:

• 1941 - 1961: CCCF championship (Central America and the Caribbean) (10 times)
• 1963 - 1971: Concacaf Championship (Central and North America and the Caribbean) (5 times)
• 1973 - 1989: Qualification Tournament for the FIFA World Cup^TM in the Concacaf zone (5 times)
• 1991 - 2009: Concacaf Gold Cup (11 times)

During the period 1973 - 1989 no Championship Tournaments were organised. The country that finished in top position in the final qualification group of the Concacaf Zone for the FIFA World Cup^TM was designated Champion of North and Central America an the Caribbean.

The first (CCCF) Champion was Costa Rica (1941) that did win seven out of ten CCCF Tournaments.
When all above tournaments are taken into account, till now (August 2011) the Championship has been played already 31 times.
The acting Champion of North and Cental America and the Caribbean is: Mexico.

Three countries have won at least once the Concacaf Gold Cup:

• Mexico, 6 times
• USA, 4 times
• Canada, 1 times

Selection of matches

For the computation of the Rating Scores for the All-time Ranking Table of North and Central America and the Caribbean all matches for the following tournaments are taken into account:

• CCCF Championships (1941 - 1961)
• Concacaf Championships (1963 - 1971)
• FIFA World CupTM qualification for the Concacaf Zone (1973 - 1989)
• Gold Cup (1991 - present)
• UNCAF Tournament or Central American Cup
• Caribbean Championships or Caribbean Cup (1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2010).

Within the Concacaf Zone two regional tournaments are being organised:

• The UNCAF Tournament, also known as Central American Cup, for the countries of Central America. This tournament is being organised by the UNCAF: Union Centroamericana de Fútbol (Central American Football Union) and serves always as qualification for the Gold Cup. Therefore all matches for this tournament are taken into account for the All-time Ranking Table for North and Central America and the Caribbean.
• The Caribbean Championships, also known as Caribbean Cup, Copa Caribe, Caribbean Nations Cup, Shell Caribbean Cup or Digicel Caribbean Cup. This tournament is being organised by the CFU (Caribbean Football Union) for countries in the Caribbean region.
  In some years this tournament is counted for as qualification for the Concacaf Gold Cup. For these editions only the results are taken into account for the computation of the Rating Scores for the All-time Ranking Table of the Championship of North and Central America and the Caribbean.

   

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  Minimal number of matches for the computation of Rating Scores.

  For the computation of reliable Rating Scores a specific minimum number of matches per country is requested.
  For countries that played less than 10 matches for any All-time Ranking Table no Rating Score will be computed.
  Results of those countries (number of matches, points etc.) will be presented at the bottom of the respective Ranking Table.
  For more detailed information and explanation about the Ranking Tables please view: Ranking Tables Explained.

   

  Presentation of former countries in the Ranking Tables.

  The names of former countries like East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Soviet Union etc. are skipped from the presentation in any Ranking Table as soon as 6 years are passed since they played their last game.
  For a more detailed explanation and for a complete listing of former countries please view: Selection of Data.

   

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  The above presented information is partly retrieved from the website of the RSSSF: The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (various authors).