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.
Unión Centroamericana de Fútbol | |
 | |
 The members of UNCAF (orange), with all members of CONCACAF (camel) | |
| Abbreviation | UNCAF |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1990[1] |
| Type | Sports organization |
| Membership | 7 national associations |
| Rafael Tinoco | |
| Website | uncafut.com |
Member associations
edit| Code | Association |
|---|---|
| BLZ |  Belize
|
| CRC |  Costa Rica
|
| SLV |  El Salvador
|
| GUA |  Guatemala
|
| HON |  Honduras
|
| NCA |  Nicaragua
|
| PAN |  Panama
|
Competitions
editOverview
edit
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
edit- Copa Centroamericana – Was the International tournament for Central America, top 4–5 qualify for the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Club teams
edit- Copa Interclubes UNCAF – Was a club championship for Central America in which the top 3 teams qualified for CONCACAF Champions' Cup.
- UNCAF Women's Interclub Championship – First edition held in 2016.
UNCAF runs several competitions which cover men's, women's, youth and futsal.
Current title holders
edit
Major tournament records
editNational teams appearances in international tournaments
edit| National team | World Cup | Women's World Cup | Gold Cup | Women's Championship | W Gold Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Costa Rica
|
6 | 2 | 11 | 2 | 1 |
| Honduras
|
3 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| El Salvador
|
2 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 1 |
| Guatemala
|
0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| Panama
|
1 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 1 |
| Belize
|
0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Nicaragua
|
0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Digicel and the Central American Union of Football (UNCAF) launch the Copa de Naciones Digicel 2009". Digicel Football. 11 December 2008. Archived from the original on 8 April 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
