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.

Defender Jorge Luis Clavelo represented Cuba at four CONCACAF Gold Cups, here as captain before the Quarter-Final versus the United States in 2015.

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 (11 titles).

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 (−92).

Record at the CONCACAF Championship/Gold Cup
CONCACAF Championship
Year Result Position Pld W T L GF GA
1963Did Not Enter
1965Withdrew
1967Did Not Qualify
1969Did Not Enter
1971Fourth Place4th512257
1973Did Not Enter
1977Did Not Qualify
1981Final Round5th512248
1985Did Not Enter
1989Did Not Qualify
CONCACAF Gold Cup
1991Withdrew
1993Did Not Enter
1996Did Not Qualify
1998Group Stage10th2002210
2000Did Not Qualify
2002Group Stage11th201101
2003Quarter-Final8th310228
2005Group Stage12th300339
2007Group Stage12th301239
2009Withdrew
2011Group Stage12th3003116
2013Quarter-Final8th4103613
2015Quarter-Final8th4103114
2017Did Not Qualify
2019Group Stage16th3003017
Total11/2514/2937562427112

Match Overview
Tournament Round Opponent Score Venue
1971Final Round Costa Rica0–3Port of Spain
 Honduras3–1
 Mexico0–1
 Trinidad and Tobago2–2
 Haiti0–0
1981Final Round Mexico0–4Tegucigalpa
 Honduras0–2
 El Salvador0–0
 Haiti2–0
 Canada2–2
1998Group Stage United States0–3Oakland
 Costa Rica2–7
2002Group Stage United States0–1Pasadena
 South Korea0–0
2003Group Stage Canada2–0Foxboro, United States
 Costa Rica0–3
Quarter-Finals United States0–5
2005Group Stage United States1–4Seattle
 Costa Rica1–3
 Canada1–2Foxboro
2007Group Stage Mexico1–2East Rutherford
 Panama2–2
 Honduras0–5Houston
2011Group Stage Costa Rica0–5Arlington
 Mexico0–5Charlotte
 El Salvador1–6Chicago
2013Group Stage Costa Rica0–3Portland
 United States1–4Sandy
 Belize4–0East Hartford
Quarter-Finals Panama1–6Atlanta
2015Group Stage Mexico0–6Chicago, United States
 Trinidad and Tobago0–2Glendale, United States
 Guatemala1–0Charlotte, United States
Quarter-Finals United States0–6Baltimore, United States
2019Group Stage Mexico0–7Pasadena, United States
 Martinique0–3Denver, United States
 Canada0–7Charlotte, United States

Record by Opponent
CONCACAF Championship/Gold Cup matches (by team)
Opponent Wins Draws Losses Total Goals Scored Goals Conceded
 Belize100140
 Canada1124511
 Costa Rica0066324
 El Salvador011216
 Guatemala100110
 Haiti110220
 Honduras102338
 Martinique001103
 Mexico0066125
 Panama011238
 South Korea010100
 Trinidad and Tobago011224
 United States0066223

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:

References
  1. "Cuban defectors a first for MLS". Miami Herald. 14 June 2004. Archived from the original on 14 June 2006. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  2. "Cuban soccer stars Pedro Faife and Reynier Alcantara defect to America". nydailynews.com. 11 October 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  3. "'Special edge' for Cuban defector Alonso". USAToday.com. 30 June 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  4. "Charleston Battery signs Cuban striker Lester Moré". oursportscentral.com. 7 March 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  5. "Keilen García desertó de la selección de Cuba". futbol.univision.com. 8 July 2015. Archived from the original on 10 July 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  6. "Deserta otro jugador cubano en Chicago" (in Spanish). Univision (Miami). 10 July 2015. Archived from the original on 13 July 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
  7. "2 Cuban players believed to have defected before match at BofA stadium Dario Suarez and Arichel Hernandez were both no-shows before match". Charlotte Observer. 16 July 2015. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  8. "Gold Cup: Striker Ariel Martinez becomes the fourth player to defect from Cuba". 18 July 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
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