The 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the first edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF), and the eleventh overall CONCACAF tournament. The last time the CONCACAF Championship was held was 1971, from that point on the first-place finishers of World Cup qualifying were considered continental champions.[1][2]
| CONCACAF Championship | |
|---|---|
1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup official programme
| |
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | United States |
| Dates | June 28 – July 7 |
| Teams | 8 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue(s) | 2 (in 2 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  United States (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Honduras |
| Third place |  Mexico |
| Fourth place |  Costa Rica |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 16 |
| Goals scored | 50 (3.13 per match) |
| Attendance | 397,124 (24,820 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Benjamín Galindo (4 goals) |
| Best player(s) | Tony Meola |
← 1989 1993 → | |
The tournament was hosted by the United States and played in the Greater Los Angeles area of California at two venues: the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and the Rose Bowl. The eight teams were broken up into two groups of four; the top two teams of each group would advance to the semifinals. The Gold Cup was won by the United States, who eliminated Mexico in the semi-finals match, and went on to beat Honduras on penalties after tying them in the final 0–0.
| Team | Qualification | Appearances | Previous best performance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qualified through the 1989 CONCACAF Championship | |||
| Costa Rica
|
Winners | 1st | Debut |
| North American zone | |||
| United States
|
Automatic | 1st | Debut |
| Mexico
|
Automatic | 1st | Debut |
 Canada
|
Automatic | 1st | Debut |
| Caribbean zone qualified through the 1991 Caribbean Cup | |||
 Jamaica
|
Winners | 1st | Debut |
 Trinidad and Tobago
|
Runners-up | 1st | Debut |
| Central American zone qualified through the 1991 UNCAF Nations Cup | |||
| Honduras
|
Runners-up | 1st | Debut |
 Guatemala
|
Third Place | 1st | Debut |
| Los Angeles | Pasadena |
|---|---|
| Memorial Coliseum | Rose Bowl |
| Capacity: 93,607 | Capacity: 92,542 |
 |
|
 | |
The 8 national teams involved in the tournament were required to register a squad of 18 players; only players in these squads were eligible to take part in the tournament.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Honduras
|
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 5 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Mexico
|
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 5 | |
| 3 | Canada
|
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 9 | −3 | 2 | |
| 4 | Jamaica
|
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 12 | −9 | 0 |
| Canada | 2–4 | Honduras |
|---|---|---|
Mitchell  66', 80' |
Report | Bennett 28' (pen.) Espinoza 34'Cálix 41'Flores 51' |
Attendance: 13,374
Referee: Arturo Angeles (United States)
| Mexico | 4–1 | Jamaica |
|---|---|---|
| Galindo 28', 54' (pen.) Zague 36'Hermosillo 58' |
Report | Reid 39' |
Attendance: 13,374
Referee: Arlington Success (Antigua and Barbuda)
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| Jamaica | 0–5 | Honduras |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Cálix 27', 51' Anariba 31'Bennett 69'Yearwood 89' |
Attendance: 45,797
Referee: Errol Forbes (Trinidad and Tobago)
| Canada | 1–3 | Mexico |
|---|---|---|
| Lowery 83' |
Report | Hermosillo 3' de la Torre 40'Galindo 89' (pen.) |
Attendance: 45,797
Referee: Ronald Gutiérrez (Costa Rica)
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| Jamaica | 2–3 | Canada |
|---|---|---|
| Wright 42' Reid 63' |
Report | Mitchell 34' Miller 54'Limniatis 60' |
Attendance: 36,703
Referee: José Carlos Ortíz (El Salvador)
| Mexico | 1–1 | Honduras |
|---|---|---|
| Hermosillo 57' |
Report | Anariba 9' |
Attendance: 36,703
Referee: Jay Majid (United States)
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| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States (H)
|
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 6 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Costa Rica
|
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 2 | |
| 3 | Trinidad and Tobago
|
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 2 | |
| 4 | Guatemala
|
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 2 |
| Costa Rica | 2–0 | Guatemala |
|---|---|---|
| R. Gómez 14' Flores 17' |
Report |
Attendance: 18,435
Referee: Mike Siefert (Canada)
| United States | 2–1 | Trinidad and Tobago |
|---|---|---|
| Murray 85' Balboa 87' |
Report | Lewis 67' |
Attendance: 18,435
Referee: José Carlos Ortíz (El Salvador)
| Trinidad and Tobago | 2–1 | Costa Rica |
|---|---|---|
| Lewis 38' Thomas 89' |
Report | Medford 6' |
Attendance: 6,344
Referee: José Antonio Garza (Mexico)
| Guatemala | 0–3 | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Murray 11' Quinn 46'Wynalda 52' |
Attendance: 6,344
Referee: Arlington Success (Antigua and Barbuda)
| Trinidad and Tobago | 0–1 | Guatemala |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Espel 89' |
Attendance: 36,703
Referee: José Fuentes (Honduras)
| United States | 3–2 | Costa Rica |
|---|---|---|
| Vermes 6' Pérez 49' (pen.)Marchena 59' (o.g.) |
Report | Arguedas 30' Jara 33' |
Attendance: 36,703
Referee: Arturo Brizio Carter (Mexico)
In the knockout stage, if a match is level at the end of normal playing time, extra time is played (two periods of 15 minutes each), with each team being allowed to make a sixth substitution. If still tied after extra time, the match is decided by a penalty shoot-out.[3]
| Semi-finals | Final | ||||
| ||||||
| July 5 — Los Angeles | |||||
| ||||||
| Honduras | 2 | ||||
| July 7 — Los Angeles | |||||
| Costa Rica | 0 | ||||
| United States (p) | 0 (4) | ||||
| July 5 — Los Angeles | |||||
| Honduras | 0 (3) | ||||
| United States | 2 | ||||
| ||||||
| Mexico | 0 | ||||
| Third place play-off | |||||
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| July 7 — Los Angeles | |||||
| ||||||
| Mexico | 2 | ||||
| ||||||
| Costa Rica | 0 | ||||
| Honduras | 2–0 | Costa Rica |
|---|---|---|
79' |
Report |
Attendance: 41,103
Referee: Arturo Angeles (United States)
| United States | 2–0 | Mexico |
|---|---|---|
64' |
Report |
Attendance: 41,103
Referee: José Carlos Ortiz (El Salvador)
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| Mexico | 2–0 | Costa Rica |
|---|---|---|
89' |
Report |
Attendance: 39,873
Referee: Errol Forbes (Trinidad and Tobago)
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| Honduras | 0–0 | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Report | ||
| Penalties | ||
  |
3–4 |
Vermes Pérez Caligiuri Eck Quinn Kinnear Clavijo |
Attendance: 39,873
Referee: Arturo Brizio Carter (Mexico)
Eduardo Bennett Luis Calix Carlos Hermosillo Eugenio Dolmo Flores Roderick Reid Leonson Lewis Bruce Murray Peter Vermes Jamie Lowery Colin Miller Juan Carlos Arguedas Leonidas Flores Róger Gómez Claudio Jara Hernán Medford Luis Espel Juan Carlos Espinoza Gilberto Yearwood Hector Wright Luís Roberto Alves Gonzalo Farfán José Manuel de la Torre Alvin Thomas Marcelo Balboa John Doyle Hugo Pérez Brian Quinn Eric Wynalda Héctor Marchena (playing against the United States)| 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup winners |
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 United States First title |
