Cuba at the CONCACAF Gold Cup
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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 (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 |
 1963 |
Did Not Enter | |||||||
 1965 |
Withdrew | |||||||
 1967 |
Did Not Qualify | |||||||
 1969 |
Did Not Enter | |||||||
 1971 |
Fourth Place | 4th | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
 1973 |
Did Not Enter | |||||||
 1977 |
Did Not Qualify | |||||||
| 1981 |
Final Round | 5th | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| 1985 | Did Not Enter | |||||||
| 1989 | Did Not Qualify | |||||||
| CONCACAF Gold Cup | ||||||||
 1991 |
Withdrew | |||||||
| 1993 |
Did Not Enter | |||||||
| 1996 |
Did Not Qualify | |||||||
| 1998 |
Group Stage | 10th | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| 2000 |
Did Not Qualify | |||||||
| 2002 |
Group Stage | 11th | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2003 |
Quarter-Final | 8th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| 2005 |
Group Stage | 12th | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
| 2007 |
Group Stage | 12th | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 |
| 2009 |
Withdrew | |||||||
| 2011 |
Group Stage | 12th | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 16 |
| 2013 |
Quarter-Final | 8th | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 13 |
 2015 |
Quarter-Final | 8th | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 14 |
| 2017 |
Did Not Qualify | |||||||
 2019 |
Group Stage | 16th | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 17 |
| Total | 11/25 | 14/29 | 37 | 5 | 6 | 24 | 27 | 112 |
Match Overview
Record by Opponent
| CONCACAF Championship/Gold Cup matches (by team) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | Wins | Draws | Losses | Total | Goals Scored | Goals Conceded |
 Belize |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| Canada |
1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 11 |
| Costa Rica |
0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 24 |
| El Salvador |
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| Guatemala |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
 Haiti |
1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Honduras |
1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
 Martinique |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Mexico |
0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 25 |
 Panama |
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
 South Korea |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Trinidad and Tobago |
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| United States |
0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 23 |
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:
- Rey Ángel Martínez and Alberto Delgado[1] in 2002.
- Maykel Galindo[2] in 2005.
- Osvaldo Alonso[3] and Lester Moré[4] in 2007.
- Yosniel Mesa in 2011.
- Keyler García,[5] Arael Argüellez,[6] Darío Suárez[7] and Ariel Martínez[8] in 2015.
References
- ^ "Cuban defectors a first for MLS". Miami Herald. 14 June 2004. Archived from the original on 14 June 2006. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
- ^ "Cuban soccer stars Pedro Faife and Reynier Alcantara defect to America". nydailynews.com. 11 October 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
- ^ "'Special edge' for Cuban defector Alonso". USAToday.com. 30 June 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
- ^ "Charleston Battery signs Cuban striker Lester Moré". oursportscentral.com. 7 March 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Gold Cup: Striker Ariel Martinez becomes the fourth player to defect from Cuba". 18 July 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2015.