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.
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).
South Africa participated once, as invitees, in 2005. After defeating heavyweights Mexico in their first match, they followed up with a row of draws and were eliminated on penalties in the quarter-finals against Panama.
| CONCACAF Gold Cup | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Result | Position | |||||||
 2005 | Quarter-finals | 7th | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 6 | |
| Total | 1/27 | 19/31 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 6 | |
| Tournament | width=110 | Round | width=150 | Opponent | width=60 | Score | width=200 | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Group stage | align=center bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 2–1 | Carson | ||||
| align=center bgcolor="#ffffbb" | 3–3 | Los Angeles | ||||||
| align=center bgcolor="#ffffbb" | 1–1 | Houston | ||||||
| Quarter-finals | align=center bgcolor="#ffffbb" | 1–1 (3–5 pen.) |
In May 2005, that year's eventual South African league champions, the Kaizer Chiefs, were banned from African club competitions for three years after refusing to play a CAF Cup match in favour of a league match against Bloemfontein.[4] Legally, the players would have been eligible for the CONCACAF Gold Cup but were notably not nominated.
Coach: Stuart Baxter
| No. | Position | Name | Date of Birth (age) | Club | Matches | Minutes | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GK | Calvin Marlin | 20 April 1976 (aged 29) | SuperSport United | 3 | 300 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | Lucky Lekgwathi | 8 January 1976 (aged 29) | Orlando Pirates | 4 | 390 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | Lucas Thwala | 19 October 1981 (aged 23) | Orlando Pirates | 3 | 300 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | Phil Evans | 12 July 1980 (aged 24) | SuperSport United | 4 | 390 | 1 |
| 5 | DF | Ricardo Katza | 12 March 1978 (aged 27) | SuperSport United | 4 | 390 | 0 |
| 6 | FW | Siboniso Gaxa | 6 April 1984 (aged 21) | SuperSport United | 3 | 300 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | Daine Klate | 25 January 1985 (aged 20) | SuperSport United | 2 | 106 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | Siyabonga Siphika | 24 April 1981 (aged 24) | Manning Rangers | 2 | 135 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | Lebohang Mokoena | 29 September 1986 (aged 18) | Orlando Pirates | 1 | 65 | 0 |
| 10 | DF | Craig Bianchi | 25 March 1978 (aged 27) | Mamelodi Sundowns | 3 | 125 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | Elrio van Heerden | 11 July 1983 (aged 21) | FC Copenhagen | 4 | 322 | 1 |
| 12 | MF | Stanley Kgatla | 13 September 1982 (aged 22) | Silver Stars | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 13 | FW | Siyabonga Nkosi | 22 August 1981 (aged 23) | Bloemfontein Celtic | 3 | 255 | 1 |
| 14 | FW | Siyabonga Nomvethe | 2 December 1977 (aged 27) |  Empoli FC | 4 | 358 | 1 |
| 15 | MF | Hleza Mofedi | 18 January 1979 (aged 26) | Orlando Pirates | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | GK | Thabang Radebe | 18 August 1979 (aged 25) | Orlando Pirates | 1 | 90 | 0 |
| 17 | MF | Reagan Noble | 22 July 1983 (aged 21) | Wits FC | 4 | 74 | 0 |
| 18 | FW | Abram Raselemane | 23 March 1978 (aged 27) | SuperSport United | 3 | 176 | 1 |
| 19 | FW | Lungisani Ndlela | 8 September 1980 (aged 24) | SuperSport United | 4 | 390 | 2 |
| 20 | DF | Peter Petersen | 27 February 1981 (aged 24) | Moroka Swallows | 1 | 90 | 0 |
| 21 | MF | Gift Leremi | 13 October 1984 (aged 20) | Orlando Pirates | 2 | 28 | 0 |
| 22 | GK | Lee Langeveldt | 8 June 1985 (aged 20) | FC Fortune | 0 | 0 | 0 |