Wikipedia

1973 CONCACAF Championship qualification

The 1973 CONCACAF Championship qualification competition was the qualifying contest to decide the finalists for the 1973 CONCACAF Championship – the sixth international association football championship for members of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF). Qualifying ran from 15 April – 10 December 1972 and was contested by the national teams of 14 CONCACAF member associations. For the first time, the competition doubled as the qualification competition for the FIFA World Cup.

1973 CONCACAF Championship qualification
Tournament details
Dates15 April – 10 December 1972
Teams14 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played18
Goals scored73 (4.06 per match)
← 1971
1977 →

Unlike previous editions, no teams qualified automatically. Six teams – Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, the Netherlands Antilles, Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago – qualified for the final tournament.

Background

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The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) was founded as a merger of the Confederación Centroamericana y del Caribe de Fútbol (CCCF) and North American Football Confederation (NAFC) in 1961.[1] The first CONCACAF Championship, in which all the competing nations qualified automatically, was held in 1963.[2] A qualifying competition was introduced from the second edition in 1965.[3] Starting from the 1973 edition, the competition doubled as the qualifying competition for the FIFA World Cup for teams in North, Central America and the Caribbean. Only the winner of each edition would qualify for the World Cup.[1]

Format

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Qualification for the 1973 CONCACAF Championship was split into six groups of either two or three teams. The four groups of two teams would contest a two-legged tie, in which the team scoring more goals on aggregate in each tie would qualify for the final tournament. The two groups of three would contest a double round-robin where each team would play all of the others twice. The winners would qualify for the final tournament.[4]

Participants

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Group A

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The group began on 20 August when Canada defeated the United States 3–2. Four days later, Mexico recorded a 1–0 win against Canada in their first match. On 29 August, the United States drew 2–2 with Canada. As a result, with half the matches played, Canada led the group on three points, one ahead of Mexico who still had three matches left to play.[4]

On 3 September, Mexico went top of the group with a 3–1 win against the United States. Four days later, they followed that up with a 2–1 win against Canada – a result which meant Mexico had won the group and had qualified for the final tournament. In the final match, on 10 September, Mexico completed a clean sweep, winning all their games, after beating the United States 2–1.[4]

Table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Mexico 4 4 0 0 8 3 +5 8 Qualification for 1973 CONCACAF Championship
2  Canada 4 1 1 2 6 7 −1 3
3  United States 4 0 1 3 6 10 −4 1
Source: [4]

Results

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Canada 3–2 United States
 [5]
Attendance: 7,600
Referee: Parsons (Bermuda)
Canada 0–1 Mexico
[6] Borbolla 61'
Attendance: 14,000
Referee: Chaplin (Jamaica)
United States 2–2 Canada
 [7]
Attendance: 3,273
Referee: Henriquez (El Salvador)
Mexico 3–1 United States
 [4] Roy 78'
Attendance: 29,891
Referee: De Gourville (Trinidad and Tobago)
Mexico 2–1 Canada
 [8] Robinson 40'
Attendance: 30,000
Referee: Koetsier (Netherlands Antilles)
United States 1–2 Mexico
Geimer 8' [4]
Attendance: 9,620
Referee: Soto Paris (Costa Rica)

Group B

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The first leg was held on 3 December when Guatemala defeated El Salvador 1–0. A week later, Guatemala won the second leg against El Salvador by the same score line to qualify for the final tournament 2–0 on aggregate.[4]

Group B
Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Guatemala 2–0 El Salvador1–01–0

Results

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Guatemala 1–0 El Salvador
Melgar 89' (pen.) [4]
Attendance: 39,008
Referee: Pageotte (Haiti)
El Salvador 0–1 Guatemala
[4] Melgar 65'
Attendance: 24,828
Referee: Kibritpan (United States)

Guatemala won 2–0 on aggregate.

Group C

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The first leg was held on 3 December when Honduras defeated Costa Rica 2–1. A week later, Honduras drew the second leg against Costa Rica 3–3 to qualify for the final tournament 5–4 on aggregate.[4]

Group C
Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Honduras 5–4 Costa Rica2–13–3

Results

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Honduras 2–1 Costa Rica
 [4] Paniagua 40'
Attendance: 16,727
Referee: Archundia (Mexico)
Costa Rica 3–3 Honduras
 [4]
Attendance: 14,274
Referee: Ramirez (Puerto Rico)

Honduras won 5–4 on aggregate.

Group D

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Jamaica withdrew and the Netherlands Antilles were given a walkover to the final tournament.[4]

Group D
Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Jamaica w/o[a] Netherlands Antilles——
Notes:
  1. ↑ El Jamaica withdrew.[4]

Group E

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The first leg was held on 15 April when a hat-trick from Emmanuel Sanon helped Haiti to a 7–0 win against Puerto Rico. Eight days later, Sanon again scored a hat-trick as Haiti won the second leg against Puerto Rico 5–0 to qualify for the final tournament 12–0 on aggregate.[4]

Group E
Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Haiti 12–0 Puerto Rico7–05–0

Results

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Haiti 7–0 Puerto Rico
 [4]
Attendance: 2,152
Referee: Archundia (Mexico)
Puerto Rico 0–5 Haiti
[4]
Attendance: 1,592
Referee: Canessa (Guatemala)

Haiti won 12–0 on aggregate.

Group F

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The group began on 10 November when Sammy Llewellyn and Steve David both scored hat-tricks as Trinidad and Tobago defeated Antigua and Barbuda 11–1. Nine days later, Trinidad and Tobago defeated Antigua and Barbuda 2–1. On 28 November Trinidad and Tobago defeated Suriname 2–1 which meant, after half the matches had been played, Trinidad and Tobago were top of the group with six points, six ahead of both Suriname and Antigua and Barbuda.[4]

Two days later, in their final match, Trinidad and Tobago drew 1–1 with Suriname to qualify for the final tournament. On 3 December, Suriname defeated Antigua and Barbuda 6–0. Two days later, the group was completed when Suriname defeated Antigua and Barbuda 3–1.[4]

Table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Trinidad and Tobago 4 3 1 0 16 4 +12 7 Qualification for 1973 CONCACAF Championship
2  Suriname 4 2 1 1 11 4 +7 5
3  Antigua and Barbuda 4 0 0 4 3 22 −19 0
Source: [4]

Results

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Trinidad and Tobago 11–1 Antigua and Barbuda
 [4] Morris 20'
Attendance: 6,510
Referee: Alvarez Alfaro (Nicaragua)
Antigua and Barbuda 1–2 Trinidad and Tobago
Edwards 80' [4]
Attendance: 2,750
Referee: Ortiz Perez (Honduras)
Trinidad and Tobago 2–1 Suriname
 [4] Zebeda 87' (pen.)
Attendance: 7,964
Referee: Landauer (United States)
Suriname 1–1 Trinidad and Tobago
Zebeda 35' [4] David 75'
Skinner Park, San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago[note 1]
Attendance: 9,276
Referee: Landauer (United States)
Antigua and Barbuda 0–6 Suriname
[4]
Attendance: 2,027
Referee: Amarica (Canada)
Suriname 3–1 Antigua and Barbuda
 [4] Morris 33'
Attendance: 1,003
Referee: Amarica (Canada)

Goalscorers

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Notes

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  1. 1 2 Suriname played their home matches in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago and St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda.[4]

References

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  1. 1 2 Stokkermans, Karel (7 July 2025). "CCCF and Concacaf Championships". RSSSF. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  2. ↑ Gandini, Luca; Lugo, Erik Francisco; Reyes, Macario (15 September 2021). "I. CONCACAF NATIONS CUP (NORCECA) 1963". RSSSF. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  3. ↑ Gandini, Luca; Lugo, Erik Francisco; Reyes, Macario (19 August 2021). "II. CONCACAF NATIONS CUP 1965". RSSSF. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Stokkermans, Karel; Jarreta, Sergio Henrique (17 March 2016). "World Cup 1974 Qualifying". RSSSF. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  5. ↑ "Men's National Team 3 - 2 USA". Canada Soccer. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  6. ↑ "Men's National Team 0 - 1 Mexico". Canada Soccer. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  7. ↑ "Men's National Team 2 - 2 USA". Canada Soccer. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  8. ↑ "Men's National Team 1 - 2 Mexico". Canada Soccer. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
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