| Campeonato de Naciones de CONCACAF 1981 (Spanish) | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Honduras |
| Dates | 1–22 November |
| Teams | 6 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue | 1 (in 1 host city) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Honduras (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  El Salvador |
| Third place |  Mexico |
| Fourth place |  Canada |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 15 |
| Goals scored | 28 (1.87 per match) |
| Attendance | 470,484 (31,366 per match) |
| Top scorer | Hugo Sánchez (3 goals) |
←1977 1985 → | |
| CONCACAF Qualifiers |
|---|
The1981 CONCACAF Championship, the eighth edition of theCONCACAF Championship, was held in Honduras from 1 to 22 November. All games were played in theEstadio Tiburcio Carías Andino inTegucigalpa. This tournament was won by the host,Honduras, who earned their first title and secured for the first time a place in theFIFA World Cup, as the tournament also served as qualification toSpain 1982. The North, Central American and Caribbean zone was allocated two places (out of 24) in the final tournament. This edition was marked by an upset asMexico, traditional CONCACAF heavyweights and needing a win to go through, were eliminated byHonduras. The 0–0 tie between Mexico and Honduras qualifiedEl Salvador to participate in the World Cup as the CONCACAF runners-up. El Salvador also became the first Central American team to qualify for more than one World Cup. This would be the last tournament which would feature a host nation for the final round.
| Tegucigalpa |
|---|
| Estadio Tiburcio Carías Andino |
| Capacity:35,000 |
 |
| Team | Method of qualification | Total times qualified | Last time qualified | Previous best performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | North American Zone winners | 2 | 1977 | Fourth place (1977) |
 Cuba | Caribbean Zone Group A winners | 2 | 1971 | Fourth place (1971) |
| El Salvador | Central American Zone runners-up | 4 | 1977 | Runners-up (1963) |
 Haiti | Caribbean Zone Group B winners | 6 | 1977 | Winners (1973) |
| Honduras(host) | Central American Zone winners | 5 | 1973 | Runners-up (1967) |
| Mexico(title holders) | North American Zone runners-up | 8 | 1977 | Winners (1965,1971,1977) |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Honduras | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 1 | +7 | 8 | 1982 FIFA World Cup |
| 2 | El Salvador | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 6 | |
| 3 | Mexico | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 5 | |
| 4 | Canada | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 5 | |
| 5 | Cuba | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | −4 | 4 | |
| 6 | Haiti | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 9 | −7 | 2 |
| Mexico | 4–0 | Cuba |
|---|---|---|
Castro 18'H. Sánchez 43',50'Manzo 53' |
| Canada | 1–0 | El Salvador |
|---|---|---|
| Stojanovic 90' |
| Haiti | 1–1 | Canada |
|---|---|---|
| Romulas 34' | Stojanovic 50' |
| Mexico | 0–1 | El Salvador |
|---|---|---|
| Hernández 81' |
| Honduras | 2–0 | Cuba |
|---|---|---|
| Buezo 36' Costly 69' |
| El Salvador | 0–0 | Cuba |
|---|---|---|
| Mexico | 1–1 | Haiti |
|---|---|---|
| H. Sánchez 87' | Cadet 47' |
| Honduras | 2–1 | Canada |
|---|---|---|
| Caballero 12' Figueroa 40' | Bridge 19' |
| Honduras | 0–0 | El Salvador |
|---|---|---|
| Haiti | 0–1 | El Salvador |
|---|---|---|
| Huezo 18' (pen.) |
| Cuba | 2–2 | Canada |
|---|---|---|
| Núñez 2' Rodríguez 74' | McLeod 48' Iarusci 84' |
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| Team | Method of qualification | Date of qualification | Finals appearance | Last appearance | Consecutive finals appearances | Previous best performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Honduras | Winners | 16 November 1981 | 1st | — | 1 | — |
| El Salvador | Runners-up | 22 November 1981 | 2nd | 1970 | 1 | First round (1970) |
Frantz Mathieu (playing againstCuba)Source:[1]
| Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Luis Guevara Mora | Ian BridgeFrancisco OsortoEfraín GutiérrezJaime Villegas | Norberto HuezoRamón Maradiaga | Ramón NúñezCarlos CaballeroJosé FigueroaHugo Sánchez |
To date, this is the last time that Mexico failed to qualify for a FIFA World Cup. (Mexico did not appear in the1990 FIFA World Cup as they were banned in light of ascandal in which they used overage players in a youth tournament.)
