Central American Football Union Explained

Central American Football Union
Native Name:Unión Centroamericana de Fútbol
Native Name Lang:es
Abbreviation:UNCAF
Type:Sports organization
Membership:7 national associations
Formation:1990[1]
Map:Members of UNCAF.svg
Mcaption:The members of UNCAF (orange), with all members of CONCACAF (camel)
Leader Title:President
Leader Name:Rafael Tinoco

The Unión Centroamericana de Fútbol (Central American Football Union), more commonly known by the acronym UNCAF, represents the national football teams of Central America: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. Its member associations are part of CONCACAF.

Member associations

Member associations
Association
BLZ
CRC
SLV
GUA
HON
NCA
PAN

Competitions

See also: List of association football competitions and FIFA International Match Calendar.

Overview

The UNCAF organize various competitions. The Copa Centroamericana was played every two years from 1991 until 2017, and usually featured the seven national teams. Costa Rica is the most successful team, winning the tournament eight times. Honduras won the tournament four times while Guatemala and Panama won once each. This tournament usually ran as a qualification round for the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

The UNCAF also ran the Copa Interclubes UNCAF, a competition for the champions and runners-up of the domestic leagues of the UNCAF members; C.D. Motagua (Honduras) was the last champion (2007). Similarly to the Copa Centroamericana, this competition qualified three teams to the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. As it expanded into the CONCACAF Champions League in 2008, all of the Central American nations have at least one team and the Copa Interclubes UNCAF was disbanded.

National teams

Club teams

UNCAF runs several competitions which cover men's, women's, youth and futsal.

Current title holders

See also: FIFA International Match Calendar.

CompetitionYearChampionsTitleRunners-upNext editionDates
National teams
Copa Centroamericana20174thAbolished
U-23 Tournament2015UnknownUnknownTBA
U-20 Tournament20241st
U-18 Tournament2019UnknownUnknownTBA
U-17 Tournament2016Unknown2024
U-16 Tournament20241stTBA
U-15 Tournament2023UnknownTBA
Futsal Tournament2016UnknownTBA
Futsal U20 Tournament20221stTBA
Beach Soccer Cup2018UnknownTBA
National teams (women)
Women's Copa Centroamericana2018UnknownTBA
Women's U-20 Tournament20231stTBA
Women's U-17 Tournament2017UnknownTBA
Women's U-16 Tournament2023UnknownTBA
Club teams
Interclub Cup / Central American Cup2007 Motagua1st Saprissa20231 August – 7 December
U-17 Interclub Cup2022 Plaza Amador1st AFFI AcademiaTBD
Club teams (women)
Women's Interclub Championship2023 Liga Deportiva Alajuelense2(5)-2(3) Tauro F.C.202419–25 July

Major tournament records

National teams appearances in international tournaments

National team Concacaf W Gold Cup
Costa Rica6 2 11 2 1
Honduras3 0 11 0 0
El Salvador2 0 8 1 1
Guatemala0 0 9 1 0
Panama1 1 8 2 1
Belize0 0 1 0 0
Nicaragua0 0 2 0 0

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Digicel and the Central American Union of Football (UNCAF) launch the Copa de Naciones Digicel 2009. Digicel Football. 21 February 2013. 11 December 2008. dead. https://archive.today/20130408215540/http://www.digicelfootball.com/en/copa-2007/news/digicel-and-uncaf-launch-the-copa-de-naciones-digicel-2009. 8 April 2013. dmy-all.