Trinidad and Tobago at the CONCACAF Gold Cup

The CONCACAF Gold Cup is North America's major tournament in senior men's football and determines the continental champion. Until 1989, the tournament was known as CONCACAF Championship.[1] It is currently held every two years.[2] From 1996 to 2005, nations from other confederations have regularly joined the tournament as invitees. In earlier editions, the continental championship was held in different countries, but since the inception of the Gold Cup in 1991, the United States are constant hosts or co-hosts.

In 2000, Trinidad and Tobago's star-forward Dwight Yorke was voted into the tournament's Best XI alongside team mate Russell Latapy. Trinidad and Tobago placed 3rd in that tournament, their best result in the Gold Cup era.

From 1973 to 1989, the tournament doubled as the confederation's World Cup qualification. CONCACAF's representative team at the FIFA Confederations Cup was decided by a play-off between the winners of the last two tournament editions in 2015 via the CONCACAF Cup, but was then discontinued along with the Confederations Cup.[3]

Since the inaugural tournament in 1963, the Gold Cup was held 27 times and has been won by seven different nations, most often by Mexico (12 titles).

In terms of total points earned, Trinidad and Tobago are the second-most successful Caribbean nation in the history of CONCACAF continental championships after Haiti, but unlike them have never actually won a title. Haiti won the championship in 1973, with Trinidad and Tobago as runners-up - the closest the Trinidadians ever came to a tournament victory themselves.

Overall record

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CONCACAF Championship & Gold Cup record Qualification record
Year Result Position Pld W D L GF GA Squad Pld W D L GF GA
  1963 Did not enter Did not enter
  1965 Withdrew Withdrew
  1967 Round-robin 4th 5 2 0 3 6 10 Squad 4 2 1 1 7 7
  1969 Round-robin 5th 5 1 1 3 4 12 Squad Qualified automatically
  1971 Round-robin 5th 5 1 2 2 6 12 Squad Qualified as hosts
  1973 Round-robin 2nd 5 3 0 2 11 4 Squad 4 3 1 0 16 4
  1977 Did not qualify 6 2 2 2 10 9
  1981 4 1 2 1 1 2
1985 Group stage 7th 4 0 1 3 2 7 Squad Qualified automatically
1989 Round-robin 3rd 8 3 3 2 7 5 Squad 4 2 2 0 6 1
  1991 Group stage 5th 3 1 0 2 3 4 Squad 5 3 0 2 12 5
    1993 Did not qualify 5 2 1 2 10 10
  1996 Group stage 7th 2 0 0 2 4 6 Squad 5 4 0 1 21 3
  1998 Group stage 6th 2 1 0 1 5 5 Squad 4 2 1 1 9 3
  2000 Third place 3rd 4 2 0 2 6 8 Squad 5 4 0 1 18 6
  2002 Group stage 10th 2 0 1 1 1 2 Squad 5 4 0 1 13 3
    2003 Did not qualify 7 3 0 4 8 9
  2005 Group stage 10th 3 0 2 1 3 5 Squad 10 7 0 3 22 8
  2007 Group stage 11th 3 0 1 2 2 5 Squad 5 3 1 1 13 6
  2009 Did not qualify 6 3 2 1 11 8
  2011 6 4 0 2 13 6
  2013 Quarter-finals 6th 4 1 1 2 4 5 Squad 11 6 3 2 23 7
    2015 Quarter-finals 5th 4 2 2 0 10 6 Squad 7 5 2 0 16 5
  2017 Did not qualify 4 1 0 3 8 8
      2019 Group stage 14th 3 0 1 2 1 9 Squad Qualified automatically
  2021 Group stage 12th 3 0 2 1 1 3 Squad 6 1 3 2 10 11
    2023 Group stage 13th 3 1 0 2 4 10 Squad 6 4 1 1 12 4
Total Runners-up 18/27 68 18 17 33 80 118 119 66 20 31 269 125

Match overview

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Tournament Round Opponent Score Venue
  1967 Final round   Honduras 0–1 Tegucigalpa
  Haiti 3–2
  Mexico 0–4
  Guatemala 0–2
  Nicaragua 3–1
  1969 Final round   Guatemala 0–2 San José
  Jamaica 3–2
  Netherlands Antilles 1–3
  Costa Rica 0–5
  Mexico 0–0
  1971 Final round   Honduras 1–1 Port-of-Spain
  Mexico 0–2
  Haiti 0–6
  Cuba 2–2
  Costa Rica 3–1
  1973 Final round   Honduras 1–2 Port-au-Prince
  Haiti 1–2
  Guatemala 1–0
  Mexico 4–0
  Netherlands Antilles 4–0
1985 Group stage   Costa Rica 0–3 San José, Costa Rica
  Costa Rica 1–1
  United States 1–2 St. Louis, USA
  United States 0–1 Torrance, USA
1989 Final round   United States 1–1
  Costa Rica 1–1 Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
  Costa Rica 0–1 San José, Costa Rica
  El Salvador 2–0 Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
  El Salvador 0–0 Tegucigalpa, Honduras
  Guatemala 1–0 Guatemala City, Guatemala
  Guatemala 2–1 Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
  United States 0–1
  1991 Group stage   United States 1–2 Pasadena
  Costa Rica 2–1
  Guatemala 0–1 Los Angeles
  1996 Group stage   El Salvador 2–3 Anaheim
  United States 2–3
  1998 Group stage   Honduras 3–1 Oakland
  Mexico 2–4
  2000 Group stage   Mexico 0–4 San Diego
  Guatemala 4–2 Los Angeles
Quarter-finals   Costa Rica 2–1 (a.e.t.)
San Diego
Semi-finals   Canada 0–1 Los Angeles
  2002 Group stage   Costa Rica 1–1 Miami
  Martinique 0–1
  2005 Group stage   Honduras 1–1
  Panama 2–2
  Colombia 0–2
  2007 Group stage   El Salvador 1–2 Carson
  United States 0–2
  Guatemala 1–1 Foxboro
  2013 Group stage   El Salvador 2–2 Harrison
  Haiti 0–2 Miami Gardens
  Honduras 2–0 Houston
Quarter-finals   Mexico 0–1 Atlanta
    2015 Group stage   Guatemala 3–1 Chicago
  Cuba 2–0 Glendale
  Mexico 4–4 Charlotte
Quarter-finals   Panama 1–1
(5–6 p)
East Rutherford
      2019 Group stage   Panama 0–2 Saint Paul
  United States 0–6 Cleveland
  Guyana 1–1 Kansas City
  2021 Group stage   Mexico 0–0 Arlington
  El Salvador 0–2 Dallas
  Guatemala 1–1 Frisco
    2023 Group stage   Saint Kitts and Nevis 3–0 Fort Lauderdale
  Jamaica 1–4 St. Louis
  United States 0–6 Charlotte

Top goalscorers

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Steve David scored seven goals during the 1973 CONCACAF Championship, which made him sole top scorer of the tournament. He is still Trinidad and Tobago's leading scorer at continental championships and the only Trinidadian to date to win an individual award.

Rank Player Goals Gold Cups
1 Steve David 7 1973
2 Leonson Lewis 4 1989 (2) and 1991 (2)
Arnold Dwarika 4 1996 (2) and 2000 (2)
Kenwyne Jones 4 2013 (2) and 2015 (2)
5 Everald Cummings 3 1969 (1) and 1973 (2)
Russell Latapy 3 1996 (2) and 2000 (1)
Stern John 3 1998 (2) and 2002 (1)

The table ignores six goals from unknown scorers of the 1971 tournament.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ ""Gold Cup 101: What it is, why it matters, and how to follow along this summer"". mlssoccer.com. Major League Soccer. 7 July 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  2. ^ "About the CONCACAF Gold Cup". goldcup.org. Gold Cup. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  3. ^ ""Playoff Match between USA and Mexico [...]"". CONCACAF.com. Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football. 7 August 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
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