CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup

The CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup, the CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) championship competition, takes place every other year. It was created in 2000, partially in response to the need for more Women's World Cup qualifying competitions.

The CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup replaced the CONCACAF's Women's Championship, which ran in 1991, 1993, 1994 and 1998. Except for the 1993 and 2000 competitions, which featured invited teams from other confederations, all tournaments were World Cup qualifiers.

History

Inaugural Years

The first Women's Gold Cup Qualifying Tournament (qualifying for the Women's World Cup) was hosted by the U.S. in 2000. Six member WNTs participated: Canada, the U.S., Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, Trinidad & Tobago, as well as two invited teams, Brazil and China. [http://www.ussoccerplayers.com/resource_center/womens_soccer/446128.html] The U.S. won, 4-0-1. Because of this, the 2002 Women's Gold Cup held in Canada, was restricted to qualifying CONCACAF teams.

2002

:"See main article: 2002 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup"

Played in four venues and two countries over 14 days by eight teams, the 2002 Women's Gold Cup guaranteed two World Cup slots and one playoff spot to winners. After 16 games, played as 8 doubleheaders, the U.S.A. beat Canada in overtime. Mia Hamm scored the golden goal, taking the U.S. to their second Women's Gold Cup title. The U.S. had a 9-0-1 Gold Cup record, including 48 goals for and two goals against, both scored by Charmaine Hooper of Canada.

2006

:"See main article: 2006 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup"

The 2006 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup was held in the United States, with games being hosted at The Home Depot Center in Carson, California and Tropical Park Stadium in Miami, Florida. This 2007 World Cup qualifying tournament featured six teams in single-elimination, with the top two teams qualifying directly for the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup in China. Additionally, the third-place finisher will play a two-legged home-and-away playoff against the Japan (the fourth-place finisher from the Asian Confederation). [ [http://www.ussoccer.com/articles/viewArticle.jsp_281402.html The Official Site of U.S. Soccer - Women's National Team ] ]

Draw

The draw for first-round games, to be played in Miami, was held at the CONCACAF headquarters in New York City on October 9, 2006. The USA and Canadian teams were awarded byes to the semifinal round, and thus did not play in the first round.

Competition

First-round games were played at Tropical Park Stadium on November 19, 2006, with the winners advancing to the semifinal round on November 22, 2006, at The Home Depot Center. The Championship and Third-Place games were played on November 26, 2006 at The Home Depot Center.

Teams:

*fbw|CAN
*fbw|JAM
*fbw|MEX
*fbw|PAN
*fbw|TRI
*fbw|USA

Tournaments

CONCACAF's Women's Championship

* USA did not participate, as it qualified directly for the FIFA Women's World Cup 1999 as the host.

CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup

External links

* [http://www.rsssf.com/tablesc/cam-women.html CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup at RSSSF]

References