Copa América Centenario qualifying play-offs

The Copa América Centenario qualifying play-offs were the international football matches to determine the final two CONCACAF national teams that progressed as qualifiers to the Copa América Centenario final tournament.[1] The two play-off matches (Panama against Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago against Haiti) were held at the Estadio Rommel Fernández in Panama City, Panama on 8 January 2016.[2]

Main article: Copa América Centenario

Background

Among the 16 teams participating in the Copa América Centenario, six of them are from CONCACAF. Four of the six CONCACAF representative teams had already qualified prior to the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup:

Team Zone Method of qualification
 United States NAFU Hosts and automatic qualifier
 Mexico Automatic qualifier
 Costa Rica UNCAF 2014 Copa Centroamericana winner
 Jamaica CFU 2014 Caribbean Cup winner

The two remaining places were determined by a play-off system which itself was determined by the outcome of the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup. The system is as follows:[1]

  • If a team other than the four teams already qualified wins the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup, the Gold Cup winner would qualify for the Copa América Centenario, while the two highest-ranked teams outside of those already qualified for the Copa América Centenario from the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup would compete in a play-off.
  • If a team that has already qualified wins the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup, the four highest-ranked teams outside of those already qualified for the Copa América Centenario from the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup would compete in two play-offs, with the highest-ranked team facing the fourth highest-ranked team, and the second highest-ranked team facing the third highest-ranked team.

Since the winners of the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup (Mexico) had already qualified for the Copa América Centenario, a total of four teams played in the qualifying play-offs.

2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament ranking
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification for Copa América Centenario
1  Mexico 6 4 2 0 16 6 +10 14 Qualified prior to 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup
2  Jamaica 6 4 1 1 8 6 +2 13
3  Panama 6 0 5 1 6 7 −1 5 Play-offs
4  United States 6 3 2 1 12 5 +7 11 Qualified prior to 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup
5  Trinidad and Tobago 4 2 2 0 10 6 +4 8 Play-offs
6  Haiti 4 1 1 2 2 3 −1 4
7  Costa Rica 4 0 3 1 3 4 −1 3 Qualified prior to 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup
8  Cuba 4 1 0 3 1 14 −13 3 Play-offs
9  El Salvador 3 0 2 1 1 2 −1 2
10  Canada 3 0 2 1 0 1 −1 2
11  Honduras 3 0 1 2 2 4 −2 1
12  Guatemala 3 0 1 2 1 4 −3 1
Source: CONCACAF.com

Note: Per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-out are counted as draws.

Seeding

The four teams were seeded based on the Gold Cup results:

  1.  Panama
  2.  Trinidad and Tobago
  3.  Haiti
  4.  Cuba

The match-ups in the play-offs were:

  • Seed #2 vs Seed #3
  • Seed #4 vs Seed #1

It was reported that each tie would be played over two legs in October 2015.[3] However, on 29 October 2015 CONCACAF confirmed that the ties would be played as a single-match doubleheader hosted at the Estadio Rommel Fernández in Panama City, Panama on 8 January 2016, with Panama earning the hosting rights as the highest-seeded team.[2]

Matches
Trinidad and Tobago 0–1 Haiti
Report Belfort[notes 1]  86'
Referee: David Gantar (Canada)

Haiti qualified for the Copa América Centenario.

Cuba 0–4 Panama
Report Gómez  3'
Tejada  17' (pen.)
Cooper  52'
Pérez  89'
Referee: Fernando Guerrero (Mexico)

Panama qualified for the Copa América Centenario.

Notes
  1. CONCACAF made a correction and awarded the goal to Kervens Belfort. It had previously been awarded to Pascal Millien.[4]

References
  1. "Copa América Centenario" (PDF). TrafficSports.com. 10 March 2015. p. 7. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  2. "CONCACAF Announces Details of Copa America Centenario Play-in Matches, Scheduled for January 8 in Panama". CONCACAF.com. October 29, 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-11-09. Retrieved 2015-10-29.
  3. "T&T Football: Soca Warriors get ready for Haiti in two-leg playoff for Copa America spot". SportsMax.TV. 11 August 2015. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  4. https://twitter.com/CONCACAF/status/685618680160497664
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