NAFC Championship 1949

NAFC Championship 1949

Tournament details
Host country	Mexico
Teams	3 (from 1 confederation)
Final positions
Champions	Mexico (2nd title)
Runners-up	United States
Third place	Cuba
Tournament statistics
Matches played	6
Goals scored	28 (4.67 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Horacio Casarín (3) Luis de la Fuente (3)

The North American Football Confederation (NAFC) Championship (also known as the North American Nations Cup) was the football (soccer) championship for the North American Football Confederation.

In 1949, the NAFC Championship served both as a regional championship as well as the regional qualification tournament for the 1950 FIFA World Cup and was held in Mexico City. Four teams were invited, Cuba, Mexico, Canada and the United States, but Canada did not send a team.

Mexico easily topped the standings, going undefeated and outscoring the two other teams seventeen goals to two. The United States came in second and Cuba, winless in its four games, was third. As the top two teams qualified for the World Cup, Mexico and the U.S. went to the finals in Brazil.

The NAFC held this competition in 1947, 1949; the North American zone (CONCACAF era) continued the tournament in 1990 and 1991. While Canada was a founding member of the NAFC, it did not participate in the first two championships.

Games

4 September 1949	United States	0 – 6	Mexico	Estadío de los Deportes Attendance: 60,000 Referee: José Tapia (Cuba)
			Flores  20' Luna  30' de la Fuente  37', 55', 58' Septién  85'

Mexico: Raúl Córdoba, Felipe Zetter, Carlos Laviada(captain), José Antonio Roca, Mario Ochoa, Héctor Ortíz, Antonio Flores, Luis Luna, Horacio Casarín, Luis "Pirata" de la Fuente, Carlos Septién

United States: Frank Borghi, Ben Wattman, Manuel Martin, Walter Bahr, Charlie Colombo, Bill Sheppell, Frank Wallace, Jack Hynes, Pete Matevich, John Souza, Benny McLaughlin

---

11 September 1949	Mexico	2 – 0	Cuba	Mexico City Referee: Prudencio García (United States)
	Luna  26' Casarín  57'

Mexico: Raúl Córdoba, Jorge Romo, Carlos Laviada (captain), José Antonio Roca, Mario Ochoa, Héctor Ortíz, Antonio Flores, Luis Luna, Horacio Casarín, Luis "Pirata" de la Fuente, Carlos Septién

Cuba: Arozamena, Barquín, Llerandi, Ovide, J.Minsal, Torrent, Veiga, Fano, Gómez, Torres, Brioso

---

14 September 1949	Cuba	1 – 1	United States	Estadío de los Deportes, Mexico City Attendance: 8,000
	Gómez  28'		Wallace  23'

Cuba: Rolando Aguilar, Jacinto Barquin, Bernardo Llerandi, José Minsal, Marcelino Minsal, Francisco Torrent, Clerch, José Gómez, Ricardo Torres, Vicente Pérez, Manuel Briso

United States: Frank Borghi, Harry Keough, Manuel Martin, William Sheppell, Charlie Colombo, Walter Bahr, Frank Wallace, Jack Hynes, Peter Matevich, John Souza, Ben McLaughlin

---

18 September 1949	Mexico	6 – 2	United States	Estadío de los Deportes, Mexico City Attendance: 54,500 Referee: José Tapia (Cuba)
	Ortíz  14' Casarín  23', 41', 76' de la Fuente  47' Ochoa  89'		Souza  52' Wattman  90'

Mexico: Melesio Osnaya, Jorge Romo, Carlos Laviada (captain), Héctor Ortíz, Mario Ochoa, José Antonio Roca, Antonio Flores, Francisco Hernández, Horacio Casarin, Luis de la Fuente, Carlos Septien

United States: Frank Borghi, Harry Keough, Manuel Martin, Bill Sheppell, Charlie Colombo, Walter Bahr, Frank Wallace, Jack Hynes, Ben Wattman, John Souza, Benny McLaughlin

---

21 September 1949	United States	5 – 2	Cuba	Estadío de los Deportes, Mexico City Attendance: 60,000 Referee: José Tapia (Cuba)
	Bahr  16' Souza  23' Matevich  30', 35' Wallace  48'		Barquin  42' Veiga  50'

United States: Frank Borghi, Harry Keough, Manuel Martin, Bill Sheppell, Charlie Colombo, Walter Bahr, Frank Wallace, Jack Hynes, Pete Matevich, John Souza, Benny McLaughlin

Cuba: Pedro Arosemana (Rolando Aguilar 40'), Jacinto Barquin, Bernardo Llerandi, José Ovide, José Minsal, Francisco Torrent, Santiago Veiga, José Gómez, Ricardo Torres, Angel Valdes, Manuel Brioso

---

25 September 1949	Mexico	3 – 0	Cuba	Estadío de los Deportes, Mexico City
	Naranjo  44' Flores  58' Naranjo  88'

Mexico: Melesio Osnaya, Felipe Zetter, Gregorio "Tepa" Gómez, Alfonso Montemayor (captain), Samuel Cuburu, Raúl Varela, Antonio Flores, José Naranjo, Mario "Flaco" Pérez, Luis Vázquez, Enrique Sesma

Cuba: Aguilar, Barquín, Llerandi, Ovide, J.Minsal, Torrent, Veiga, Pérez, Gómez, Torres, Valdés

Champion

NAFC Championship: Mexico Second title

Scorers

Four Goals

• Horacio Casarín
• Luis de la Fuente

Two Goals

• Antonio Flores
• Luis Luna
• José Naranjo
• Pete Matevich
• John Souza
• Frank Wallace

One Goal

• Jacinto Barquin
• José Gómez
• Santiago Veiga
• Mario Ochoa
• Héctor Ortíz
• Carlos Septien
• Walter Bahr
• Ben Wattman

Final Rankings

Team		Pts	GP	W	T	L	GF	GA	Dif
1	Mexico	8	4	4	0	0	17	2	+15
2	United States	3	4	1	1	2	8	15	-7
3	Cuba	1	4	0	1	3	3	11	-8

External links

• Tournament results