The Unión Centroamericana de Fútbol (Central American Football Union), more commonly known by the acronym UNCAF, represents the national
football teams of
Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
:
Belize
Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...
,
Costa Rica,
El Salvador,
Guatemala,
Honduras,
Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...
, and
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...
. Its member associations are part of
CONCACAF
The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch language, Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CON ...
.
Member associations
Competitions
Overview
The UNCAF organize various competitions. The
Copa Centroamericana
The Copa Centroamericana (, Spanish for "Central American Cup") was the main association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ''Unión Centroamericana de Fútbol'' ( UNCAF), the sport's Central A ...
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
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...
won once each. This tournament usually ran as a qualification round for the
CONCACAF Gold Cup
The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...
.
The UNCAF also ran the
Copa Interclubes UNCAF
The UNCAF Club Tournament was an annual international football competition held in the UNCAF region (Central America). The competition was open to the leading domestic club teams in the region. The winners of each national league qualified automa ...
, 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
*
Copa Centroamericana
The Copa Centroamericana (, Spanish for "Central American Cup") was the main association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ''Unión Centroamericana de Fútbol'' ( UNCAF), the sport's Central A ...
– Was the International tournament for Central America, top 4–5 qualify for the
CONCACAF Gold Cup
The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...
.
Club teams
*
Copa Interclubes UNCAF
The UNCAF Club Tournament was an annual international football competition held in the UNCAF region (Central America). The competition was open to the leading domestic club teams in the region. The winners of each national league qualified automa ...
– Was a club championship for Central America in which the top 3 teams qualified for
CONCACAF Champions' Cup.
*
UNCAF Women's Interclub Championship
The UNCAF Women's Interclub Championship ( es, Campeonato Interclubes Femenino de UNCAF) is Central America's women's club football championship organized by UNCAF
The Unión Centroamericana de Fútbol (Central American Football Union), more ...
– First edition held in
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
.
UNCAF runs several competitions which cover men's, women's, youth and
futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and indoor football.
Futsal is played between two teams of five players each, one of whom is ...
.
Current title holders
Major tournament records
National teams appearances in international tournaments
See also
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CONCACAF League
The CONCACAF League was an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF as its second-tier continental competition. It was announced on 8 May 2017.
The competition uses a knockout cup format with each round having two le ...
*
CONCACAF
The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch language, Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CON ...
**
Caribbean Football Union (CFU)
**
North American Football Union
The North American Football Union (NAFU; french: Union Nord-Américaine de Football; es, Unión Norteamericana de Fútbol) is a regional grouping under CONCACAF of national football organizations in the ''North American Zone''. The NAFU has no o ...
(NAFU)
*
North American Football Confederation
The North American Football Confederation (NAFC) was founded in 1946 as the governing body of association football in Northern America, Mexico, and Cuba. The first president of the NAFC was Carlos Alonso who was elected on 19 December 1946 in Hav ...
(NAFC)
*
Confederación Centroamericana y del Caribe de Fútbol
The Confederación Centroamericana y del Caribe de Fútbol ( en, Football Confederation of Central America and the Caribbean), also known by its initialism CCCF, was the governing body of association football in Central America and the Caribbean f ...
(CCCF)
References
External links
UNCAF official website
{{CONCACAF associations
Association football sub-confederations
Sports organizations established in 1990
1990 establishments in North America