1981 CONCACAF Championship
The 1981 CONCACAF Championship, the eighth edition of the CONCACAF Championship, was held in Honduras from 1 to 22 November. All games were played in the Estadio Tiburcio Carías Andino in Tegucigalpa. This tournament was won by the host, Honduras, who earned their first title and secured for the first time a place in the FIFA World Cup, as the tournament also served as qualification to Spain 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 as Mexico, traditional CONCACAF heavyweights and needing a win to go through, were eliminated by Honduras. The 0–0 tie between Mexico and Honduras qualified El 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.
CONCACAF Championship | |
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Tournament details | |
Host country | Honduras |
Dates | 1 – 22 November |
Teams | 6 (from 1 confederation) |
Venue(s) | 1 (in 1 host city) |
Final positions | |
Champions | ![]() |
Runners-up | ![]() |
Third place | ![]() |
Fourth place | ![]() |
Tournament statistics | |
Matches played | 15 |
Goals scored | 28 (1.87 per match) |
Top scorer(s) | ![]() |
Venues
Tegucigalpa |
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Estadio Tiburcio Carías Andino |
Capacity: 35,000 |
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Qualification
Final round
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
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1 | ![]() |
5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 1 | +7 | 8 |
2 | ![]() |
5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 6 |
3 | ![]() |
5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 5 |
4 | ![]() |
5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 5 |
5 | ![]() |
5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | −4 | 4 |
6 | ![]() |
5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 9 | −7 | 2 |
Honduras and El Salvador qualified for the 1982 FIFA World Cup.
Mexico ![]() | 4–0 | ![]() |
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Castro ![]() H. Sánchez ![]() Manzo ![]() |
Canada ![]() | 1–0 | ![]() |
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Stojanovic ![]() |
Honduras ![]() | 4–0 | ![]() |
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Buezo ![]() Urquia ![]() Laing ![]() Figueroa ![]() |
Haiti ![]() | 1–1 | ![]() |
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Romulas ![]() |
Stojanovic ![]() |
Mexico ![]() | 0–1 | ![]() |
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Hernández ![]() |
Honduras ![]() | 2–0 | ![]() |
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Buezo ![]() Costly ![]() |
El Salvador ![]() | 0–0 | ![]() |
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Mexico ![]() | 1–1 | ![]() |
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H. Sánchez ![]() |
Cadet ![]() |
Honduras ![]() | 2–1 | ![]() |
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Caballero ![]() Figueroa ![]() |
Bridge ![]() |
Haiti ![]() | 0–2 | ![]() |
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Mathieu ![]() Núñez ![]() |
Mexico ![]() | 1–1 | ![]() |
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Castro ![]() |
Bridge ![]() |
Honduras ![]() | 0–0 | ![]() |
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Haiti ![]() | 0–1 | ![]() |
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Huezo ![]() |
Cuba ![]() | 2–2 | ![]() |
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Núñez ![]() Rodríguez ![]() |
McLeod ![]() Iarusci ![]() |
Honduras ![]() | 0–0 | ![]() |
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1981 CONCACAF Championship Winners |
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![]() Honduras First title |
Goalscorers
- 3 goals
- 2 goals
Ian Bridge Mike Stojanović Ramón Núñez Armas David Buezo José Roberto Figueroa Ricardo Castro
- 1 goal
Bob Iarusci Wes McLeod Jorge Luis Rodríguez Ever Hernández Norberto Huezo Daniel Cadet Gerald Romulas Anthony Costly Carlos Orlando Caballero Eduardo Laing Jorge Elvir Urquia Manuel Manzo
- 1 own goal
Frantz Mathieu (playing against Cuba)
Notes
To date, this was the last time that Mexico failed to qualify for a FIFA World Cup.