Cuba at the CONCACAF Gold Cup


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. It is currently held every two years. 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.
Since the inaugural tournament in 1963, the Gold Cup was held 25 times and has been won by seven different nations, most often by Mexico.
Cuba have participated in the continental championship eleven times, but only won five out of their 34 matches, never more than one at a single tournament. Their best position was a Fourth Place in 1971. They rank 14th in the tournament's All-time table, but have the worst goal difference out of all 29 teams.

Record at the CONCACAF Championship/Gold Cup

Match Overview

TournamentRoundOpponentScoreVenue
1971Final Round0–3Port of Spain
1971Final Round3–1Port of Spain
1971Final Round0–1Port of Spain
1971Final Round2–2Port of Spain
1971Final Round0–0Port of Spain
1981Final Round0–4Tegucigalpa
1981Final Round0–2Tegucigalpa
1981Final Round0–0Tegucigalpa
1981Final Round2–0Tegucigalpa
1981Final Round2–2Tegucigalpa
1998Group Stage0–3Oakland
1998Group Stage2–7Oakland
2002Group Stage0–1Pasadena
2002Group Stage0–0Pasadena
2003Group Stage2–0Foxboro, United States
2003Group Stage0–3Foxboro, United States
2003Quarter-Finals0–5Foxboro, United States
2005Group Stage1–4Seattle
2005Group Stage1–3Seattle
2005Group Stage1–2Foxboro
2007Group Stage1–2East Rutherford
2007Group Stage2–2East Rutherford
2007Group Stage0–5Houston
2011Group Stage0–5Arlington
2011Group Stage0–5Charlotte
2011Group Stage1–6Chicago
2013Group Stage0–3Portland
2013Group Stage1–4Sandy
2013Group Stage4–0East Hartford
2013Quarter-Finals1–6Atlanta
2015Group Stage0–6Chicago, United States
2015Group Stage0–2Glendale, United States
2015Group Stage1–0Charlotte, United States
2015Quarter-Finals0–6Baltimore, United States
2019Group Stage0–7Pasadena, United States
2019Group Stage0–3Denver, United States
2019Group Stage0–7Charlotte, United States

Record by Opponent

Defections to the United States

The Gold Cups on US-American soil allowed the Cuban players to get visas for the duration of the tournament. The wet feet, dry feet policy established in 1995 essentially allowed Cuban refugees in the United States to qualify for permanent resident status. The policy and the dream of making a career as a professional footballer, at a much higher level than the Cuban top division made a defection to the United States an attractive option, which some of them took. Until the policy's cessation in 2017, the following Cuban internationals defected during the tournament: