The Copa Centroamericana – the championship of Central American national teams and a qualifying tournament for the CONCACAF Gold Cup – could be held in the United States in fall 2014 or January 2015, according to FutbolMLS.com and reports from Prensa Libre in Guatemala and Prensa Grafica in El Salvador from UNCAF meetings this month.
The tournament, held in January in recent years, would mark the 25th anniversary of UNCAF, the governing body of the seven Central American national associations, if held in 2015. The idea of hosting the tournament in the United States was raised publicly at UNCAF meetings in Costa Rica last month, but discussions have evolved this week with the suggestion that El Salvador is bidding to host. Officials are also considering moving the tournament to the autumn months of 2014.
If the tournament is held in the United States, possible sites include Washington, Dallas, Houston, and multiple cities in California.
ESPN Deportes Radio's Jose del Valle posted on Twitter on Wednesday afternoon that the tournament will be held in September 2014 in Houston, Dallas and Los Angeles.
Held every two years, the Copa Centroamericana – formerly Copa UNCAF – has been contested since 1991 and currently involves all seven member nations, with the top five qualifying for that year’s Gold Cup. The last 10 tournaments have been hosted twice each by the five most successful federations: Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama and El Salvador.
On the field, Costa Rica have won four of the last six tournaments, including the 2013 title as the host country. El Salvador, Belize and Nicaragua have never won the tournament, although Nicaragua (2009) and Belize (2013) have both qualified for the Gold Cup at the expense of Guatemala in recent years.
