1981 CONCACAF Championship
International football competition
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The 1981 CONCACAF Championship, the eighth edition of the CONCACAF Championship, was held in Honduras from 1 to 22 November. All games were played in the Estadio Tiburcio Carías Andino in Tegucigalpa. This tournament was won by the host, Honduras, who earned their first title and secured for the first time a place in the FIFA World Cup, as the tournament also served as qualification to Spain 1982. The North, Central American and Caribbean zone was allocated two places (out of 24) in the final tournament. This edition was marked by an upset as Mexico, traditional CONCACAF heavyweights and needing a win to go through, were eliminated by Honduras. The 0–0 tie between Mexico and Honduras qualified El Salvador to participate in the World Cup as the CONCACAF runners-up. El Salvador also became the first Central American team to qualify for more than one World Cup. This would be the last tournament which would feature a host nation for the final round.
| Campeonato de Naciones de CONCACAF 1981 (Spanish) | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Honduras |
| Dates | 1–22 November |
| Teams | 6 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue | 1 (in 1 host city) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Honduras (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  El Salvador |
| Third place |  Mexico |
| Fourth place |  Canada |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 15 |
| Goals scored | 28 (1.87 per match) |
| Attendance | 470,484 (31,366 per match) |
| Top scorer | Hugo Sánchez (3 goals) |
← 1977 1985 → | |
Venue
| Tegucigalpa |
|---|
| Estadio Tiburcio Carías Andino |
| Capacity: 35,000 |
 |
Qualified teams
Teams
| Team | Method of qualification |
Total times qualified |
Last time qualified |
Previous best performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | North American Zone winners | 2 | 1977 | Fourth place (1977) |
 Cuba | Caribbean Zone Group A winners | 2 | 1971 | Fourth place (1971) |
| El Salvador | Central American Zone runners-up | 4 | 1977 | Runners-up (1963) |
 Haiti | Caribbean Zone Group B winners | 6 | 1977 | Winners (1973) |
| Honduras (host) | Central American Zone winners | 5 | 1973 | Runners-up (1967) |
| Mexico (title holders) | North American Zone runners-up | 8 | 1977 | Winners (1965, 1971, 1977) |
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Honduras |
5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 1 | +7 | 8 | 1982 FIFA World Cup |
| 2 | El Salvador |
5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 6 | |
| 3 | Mexico |
5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 5 | |
| 4 | Canada |
5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 5 | |
| 5 | Cuba |
5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | −4 | 4 | |
| 6 | Haiti |
5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 9 | −7 | 2 |
Matches
| Mexico | 4–0 | Cuba |
|---|---|---|
Castro  18'H. Sánchez 43', 50'Manzo 53' |
| Canada | 1–0 | El Salvador |
|---|---|---|
| Stojanovic 90' |
| Haiti | 1–1 | Canada |
|---|---|---|
| Romulas 34' |
Stojanovic 50' |
| Mexico | 0–1 | El Salvador |
|---|---|---|
| Hernández 81' |
| El Salvador | 0–0 | Cuba |
|---|---|---|
| Mexico | 1–1 | Haiti |
|---|---|---|
| H. Sánchez 87' |
Cadet 47' |
| Honduras | 0–0 | El Salvador |
|---|---|---|
| Haiti | 0–1 | El Salvador |
|---|---|---|
| Huezo 18' (pen.) |
Qualified teams to the 1982 FIFA World Cup
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| Team | Method of qualification |
Date of qualification |
Finals appearance |
Last appearance |
Consecutive finals appearances |
Previous best performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Honduras | Winners | 16 November 1981 | 1st | — | 1 | — |
| El Salvador | Runners-up | 22 November 1981 | 2nd | 1970 | 1 | First round (1970) |
Goalscorers
- 3 goals
- 2 goals
Ian Bridge- Mike Stojanović
Ramón Núñez
David Buezo- José Roberto Figueroa
Ricardo Castro
- 1 goal
- Bob Iarusci
- Wes McLeod
- Jorge Luis Rodríguez
Ever Hernández- Norberto Huezo
Daniel Cadet- Gerald Romulas
- Anthony Costly
- Carlos Orlando Caballero
- Eduardo Laing
- Jorge Elvir Urquia
- Manuel Manzo
- 1 own goal
- Frantz Mathieu (playing against Cuba)
Team of the Tournament
Source:[1]
| Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Luis Guevara Mora |
Ian Bridge Francisco Osorto Efraín Gutiérrez Jaime Villegas |
Norberto Huezo Ramón Maradiaga |
Ramón Núñez Carlos Caballero José Figueroa Hugo Sánchez |
Notes
To date, this is the last time that Mexico failed to qualify for a FIFA World Cup. (Mexico did not appear in the 1990 FIFA World Cup as they were banned in light of a scandal in which they used overage players in a youth tournament.)