The Central American Football Union (UNCAF) on Thursday announced the groups, schedule and ticket information for 2014 Copa Centroamericana, to be played September 3-13 in the United States.
The Copa Centroamericana, which will be played on US soil for the first time in its 13 editions, will provide berths to the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup and the 2016 Copa América Centenario. Tickets to all matches will go on sale to the general public on Tuesday, July 22.
The two-group, seven-team tournament will kick off Sept. 3 at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., with a tripleheader involving both groups and featuring 2014 FIFA World Cup quarterfinalists Costa Rica taking on Nicaragua, Honduras facing Belize, and El Salvador against Guatemala.
The tournament then moves on to Dallas’ Cotton Bowl on Sept. 7 and Houston’s BBVA Compass Stadium on Sept. 10. (Full schedule is below.) The championship game, as well as the third- and fifth-place matches, will be played on Saturday, Sept.13, at the historic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
The Copa Centroamericana will decide the four automatic UNCAF berths for the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup. The fifth-place finisher will earn the right to participate in a two-leg playoff against the fifth-place team from the 2014 Caribbean Cup for an additional Gold Cup berth. In addition, the Copa Centroamericana champion will earn a direct ticket to the recently-announced 2016 Copa América Centenario, also to be played in the United States.
Costa Rica are the current Copa Centroamericana champions and have lifted the trophy a record seven times. Honduras are next with three titles, while Guatemala and Panama have won one apiece. Belize, El Salvador and Nicaragua complete the field of seven Central American nations.
The Copa Centroamericana has been contested 12 previous times, starting in 1991. Costa Rica and Honduras have hosted it three times each, while it has been played in El Salvador, Guatemala and Panama twice each.
| 2014 Copa Centroamericana teams listed in alphabetical order | |
| Group A | Group B |
| Costa Rica | Belize |
| Nicaragua | El Salvador |
| Panama | Guatemala |
| Honduras | |
Schedule
all times Eastern
Wednesday, September 3 – RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.
5 pm Costa Rica vs. Nicaragua
7 pm Honduras vs. Belize
9 pm El Salvador vs. Guatemala
Sunday, September 7, 2014 – Cotton Bowl, Dallas
5 pm Costa Rica vs. Panama
7 pm Guatemala vs. Belize
9 pm Honduras vs. El Salvador
Wednesday, September 10, 2014 – BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston
6 pm Panama vs. Nicaragua
8 pm El Salvador vs. Belize
10 pm Honduras vs. Guatemala
Saturday, September 13, 2014 – Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles
4 pm Third-place finishers
7 pm Group Runners-up
10 pm Group Winners
