Introduction

This was the third Gold Cup to be contested and it was played shortly after XXX. There were a total of 16 teams who took part in the competition; all teams who had participated in Gold Cup II returned to contest this edition of the tournament. This meant that, once again, no qualification campaign was needed.

Teams Entered: 16
Champion: United States (1st)
Top Scorer: Saha (7)

Qualification

There were only 16 teams participating, so no qualification phase was needed.

Seeding

Seeding was based on the previous tournaments. As two time champions, Jamaica were obviously the top seed. They were joined in Pot A by the sides they had defeated in the championship, Panama and Trinidad & Tobago. Honduras then edged out the United States for the last spot. Both teams had finished third previously, but Honduras had reached the semifinals twice, whereas the USA had only reached it once. As such, USA fell to Pot B where they joined fellow one-time semifinalist Guadeloupe as well as former quarterfinalists Mexico and El Salvador. Pot C was comprised of lower ranked quarterfinalists Curacao, Guatemala, and Confederate States. Costa Rica rounded out Pot C as the highest ranked team who has never made the knockout round. Pot D consisted of Suriname, Canada, Martinique, and Haiti, none of which have progressed beyond the Gold Cup group stage thus far.

Teams who were seeded higher than they were in the previous tournament were: Trinidad & Tobago (C to A), Guadeloupe (C to B), Guatemala (D to C), Confederate States (D to C)
Teams who were seeded lower than they were in the previous tournament were: United States (A to B), Curacao (B to C), Costa Rica (B to C), Suriname (C to D), Canada (C to D)

Pot A: Jamaica, Panama, Trinidad & Tobago, Honduras
Pot B: United States, Guadeloupe, Mexico, El Salvador
Pot C: Curacao, Guatemala, Confederate States, Costa Rica
Pot D: Suriname, Canada, Martinique, Haiti

Gold Cup

The Group Stage saw an incredible match between Guatemala and Martinique on Matchday 2 for Group B. Guatemala wound up having 3 players sent off; Carlos Ruiz was shown a straight red card for a mistimed tackle that many believe should have only been a yellow, then moments later C. Figueroa picked up his second yellow card, and late in the match with Guatemala clinging to a 2-1 lead J. Contreras stopped a breakaway by tackling the striker from behind, earning a straight red card. That tackle probably saved the game, but it put Guatemala in a tough position heading into their final matchday against El Salvador. To make matters worse, Pezzarossi and C. Noriega both picked up injuries in the Martinique game as well, leaving Guatemala's already thin roster completely ravaged.

Guatemala only had 1 substitute for the next match against El Salvador and had to start the backup goalkeeper in the field as a defensive midfielder as well as injured Noriega on the backline, with injured Pezzarossi the only player available on the bench. The team changed from their normal 3-4-3 formation to a 5-4-1 in order to accommodate the makeshift lineup. The plan worked defensively, as they kept El Salvador off the scoreboard, but it did limit offensive chances and despite having a couple good looks, Guatemala wasn't able to score either and the match ended 0-0. Because Panama managed to win by two goals against winless Martinique in the other game, it meant Guatemala was narrowly eliminated on goal difference.

Group A

Haiti - 9 pts +4 GD 5 GF 1 GA
Guadeloupe - 6 pts +2 GD 5 GF 3 GA
Trinidad & Tobago - 3 pts +0 GD 3 GF 3 GA
Curacao - 0 pts -6 GD 0 GF 6 GA

Trinidad & Tobago 2 - 0 Curacao [Noel, Kenwyne Jones]
Guadeloupe 1 - 2 Haiti [Saha; Eloi, Alcenat]

Trinidad & Tobago 1 - 2 Guadeloupe [Spann; Saha, Biabiany]
Haiti 2 - 0 Curacao [Eloi, Alcenat]

Haiti 1 - 0 Trinidad & Tobago [Jeff Louis]
Curacao 0 - 2 Guadeloupe [Dacourt, Saha]

Group B

Panama - 5 pts +2 GD 5 GF 3 GA
El Salvador - 5 pts +2 GD 3 GF 1 GA
Guatemala - 5 pts +1 GD 3 GF 2 GA
Martinique - 0 pts -5 GD 2 GF 7 GA

Panama 1 - 1 Guatemala [A. Cooper; M. Lopez]
El Salvador 2 - 0 Martinique [R. Zelaya, A. Alvarez]

Panama 1 - 1 El Salvador [Garces; Mayen]
Martinique 1 - 2 Guatemala [Remy; Pezzarossi, M. Lopez]

Martinique 1 - 3 Panama [Remy; Garces, Barahona, G. Gomez]
Guatemala 0 - 0 El Salvador

Group C

Confederate States - 7 pts +2 GD 6 GF 4 GA
Mexico - 7 pts +2 GD 4 GF 2 GA
Honduras - 3 pts +0 GD 3 GF 3 GA
Suriname - 0 pts -4 GD 1 GF 5 GA

Honduras 1 - 2 Confederate States [Costly; Zusi, Eddie Johnson]
Mexico 1 - 0 Suriname [G. Franco]

Honduras 0 - 1 Mexico [G. Franco]
Suriname 1 - 2 Confederate States [George; Mathis x2]

Suriname 0 - 2 Honduras [Amado Guevara x2]
Confederate States 2 - 2 Mexico [Dempsey, Mathis; Blanco, G. Franco]

Group D

United States - 6 pts +4 GD 7 GF 3 GA
Jamaica - 6 pts +1 GD 4 GF 3 GA
Canada - 3 pts -2 GD 3 GF 5 GA
Costa Rica - 3 pts -3 GD 4 GF 7 GA

Jamaica 2 - 1 Costa Rica [Hayles, Euell; Alonso]
United States 1 - 2 Canada [Donovan; De Guzman, Gerba]

Jamaica 1 - 2 United States [Hayles; C. Davies x2]
Canada 1 - 3 Costa Rica [De Guzman; Centeno, Alonso x2]

Canada 0 - 1 Jamaica [Lowe]
Costa Rica 0 - 4 United States [Altidore x3, Bradley]

Quarterfinals

Haiti 0 - 2 El Salvador [D. Alas, C. Castillo]
Confederate States 3 - 2 Jamaica [Dempsey, Clark OT, Eddie Johnson OT; Langley, Whitmore OT]
Panama 2 - 4 Guadeloupe [Barahona, Garces; Saha x3 1OT, Collet OT] 0-2 OT
United States 3 - 3 Mexico [Cherundolo, C. Davies OT, Donovan OT; Omar Bravo, Pardo OT, C. Salcido OT] (5-4 PKs)