CONCACAF Nations Cup 1981

CONCACAF Nations Cup 1981
Football Championship of North, Central America and the Caribbean
Number of nations	6  (of 15 applicants)
CONCACAFmaster	Honduras (1st title)
venue	Honduras
Opening game	November 1, 1981
Endgame	November 22, 1981
Games	15th
Gates	28  (⌀: 1.87 per game)
Top scorer	Hugo Sánchez (3 goals)

The 1981 CONCACAF Nations Cup was the eighth game of the continental football championship for North Central America and the Caribbean and took place in Honduras from November 1st to 22nd . The game was played exclusively at the Estadio Tiburcio Carias Andino in the capital Tegucigalpa . As in the past, the six participants played the tournament winner in a simple league round, everyone against everyone.

For the third time, the tournament was also considered to qualify for the World Cup .

Host Honduras won the title for the first time and qualified for the 1982 World Cup in Spain. In addition, the runner-up El Salvador also qualified, as CONCACAF received two starting places out of 16 for the world championship. El Salvador was the first Central American team that could qualify for a world championship for the second time.

qualification

The 15 CONCACAF teams have been divided into three geographical zones:

North American Zone

The North American Zone with three teams played a group with home and away games, the group winner and runner-up moved into the finals.

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Canada	4th	1	3	0	004: 300	+1	05
2.	Mexico	4th	1	2	1	008: 500	+3	04th
3.	United States	4th	1	1	2	004: 800	−4	03

October 18, 1980 in Toronto
Canada	-	Mexico	1: 1
October 25, 1980 in Fort Lauderdale
United States	-	Canada	0-0
November 1, 1980 in Vancouver
Canada	-	United States	2: 1
November 9, 1980 in Mexico City
Mexico	-	United States	5: 1
November 16, 1980 in Mexico City
Mexico	-	Canada	1: 1
November 23, 1980 in Fort Lauderdale
United States	-	Mexico	2: 1

Central American Zone

The five teams played a group with home and away games, the group winner and runner-up advanced to the finals.

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Honduras	8th	5	2	1	015: 500	+10	12
2.	El Salvador	8th	5	2	1	012: 500	+7	12
3.	Guatemala	8th	3	3	2	010: 200	+8	09
4th	Costa Rica	8th	1	4th	3	006:100	−4	06th
5.	Panama	8th	0	1	7th	003:240	−21	01

July 2, 1980 in Panama City
Panama	-	Guatemala	0: 2
July 30, 1980 in Panama City
Panama	-	Honduras	0: 2
August 10, 1980 in Panama City
Panama	-	Costa Rica	1: 1
August 24, 1980 in Panama City
Panama	-	El Salvador	1: 3
October 1, 1980 in San José
Costa Rica	-	Honduras	2: 3
October 5, 1980 in San Salvador
El Salvador	-	Panama	4: 1
October 12, 1980 in Guatemala City
Guatemala	-	Costa Rica	0-0
October 26, 1980 in Tegucigalpa
Honduras	-	Guatemala	0-0
October 26, 1980 in San Salvador
El Salvador	-	Costa Rica	2: 0 1
November 5, 1980 in San José
Costa Rica	-	Panama	2-0
November 9, 1980 in Guatemala City
Guatemala	-	El Salvador	0-0
November 16, 1980 in Guatemala City
Guatemala	-	Panama	5-0
November 16, 1980 in Tegucigalpa
Honduras	-	Costa Rica	1: 1
November 23, 1980 in San Salvador
El Salvador	-	Honduras	2: 1
November 26, 1980 in San José
Costa Rica	-	Guatemala	0: 3
November 30, 1980 in Tegucigalpa
Honduras	-	El Salvador	2-0
December 7, 1980 in Guatemala City
Guatemala	-	Honduras	0: 1
December 10, 1980 in San José
Costa Rica	-	El Salvador	0-0
December 14, 1980 in Tegucigalpa
Honduras	-	Panama	5-0
December 21, 1980 in San Salvador
El Salvador	-	Guatemala	1-0

¹ 2-0 for El Salvador

Caribbean zone

The Caribbean zone with seven teams, which were divided into two groups. The teams within groups A and B played against each other with home and away games, the two respective group winners advanced to the final round.

Group A

Preliminary round

March 30, 1980 in Georgetown
Guyana	-	Grenada	5: 2
April 13, 1980 in St. George’s
Grenada	-	Guyana	2: 3
total
Guyana	-	Grenada	8: 4

Main round

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Cuba	4th	3	1	0	007-000	+7	07th
2.	Suriname	4th	2	1	1	005: 300	+2	05
3.	Guyana	4th	0	0	4th	000: 900	−9	00

August 17, 1980 in Havana
Cuba	-	Suriname	3-0
September 7, 1980 in Paramaribo
Suriname	-	Cuba	0-0
September 28, 1980 in Georgetown
Guyana	-	Suriname	0: 1
October 12, 1980 in Paramaribo
Suriname	-	Guyana	4-0
November 9, 1980 in Havana
Cuba	-	Guyana	1-0
November 30, 1980 in Linden
Guyana	-	Cuba	0: 3

Group B

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Haiti	4th	2	1	1	004: 200	+2	05
2.	Trinidad and Tobago	4th	1	2	1	001: 200	−1	04th
3.	Netherlands Antilles	4th	0	3	1	001: 200	−1	03

August 1, 1980 in Port-au-Prince
Haiti	-	Trinidad and Tobago	2-0
August 17, 1980 in San Fernando
Trinidad and Tobago	-	Haiti	1-0
September 12, 1980 in Port au Prince
Haiti	-	Netherlands Antilles	1-0
November 9, 1980 in Port of Spain
Trinidad and Tobago	-	Netherlands Antilles	0-0
November 29, 1980 in Willemstad
Netherlands Antilles	-	Trinidad and Tobago	0-0
December 12, 1980 in Willemstad
Netherlands Antilles	-	Haiti	1: 1

The tournament

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Honduras	5	3	2	0	008: 100	+7	08th
2.	El Salvador	5	2	2	1	002: 100	+1	06th
3.	Mexico	5	1	3	1	006: 300	+3	05
4th	Canada	5	1	3	1	006: 600	± 0	05
5.	Cuba	5	1	2	2	004: 800	−4	04th
6th	Haiti	5	0	2	3	002: 900	−7	02

November 1st
Mexico	-	Cuba	4-0
November 2
Canada	-	El Salvador	1-0
November 3rd
Honduras	-	Haiti	4-0
November 6th
Haiti	-	Canada	1: 1
Mexico	-	El Salvador	0: 1
November 8th
Honduras	-	Cuba	2-0
November 11th
El Salvador	-	Cuba	0-0
Mexico	-	Haiti	1: 1
November 12th
Honduras	-	Canada	2: 1
15th of November
Haiti	-	Cuba	0: 2
Mexico	-	Canada	1: 1
November 16
Honduras	-	El Salvador	0-0
November 19th
Haiti	-	El Salvador	0: 1
21st November
Cuba	-	Canada	2: 2
22nd of November
Honduras	-	Mexico	0-0

Best goal scorers

Below are the top scorers of the tournament. If the number of hits is the same, the players are sorted alphabetically.

rank	player	Gates
1	Hugo Sánchez	3
2	Ramón Núñez Armas	2
	Ian Bridge	2
	David Bueso	2
	Ricardo Castro	2
	José Roberto Figueroa	2
	Mike Stojanović	2

Web links

• Game details for the 1981 tournament on rsssf.com