The Caribbean Cup was an association football competition organized by CFU as its top regional tournament for men's senior national teams from the Caribbean. The tournament was held from 1989 to 2017, as the direct successor competition of the CFU Championship and also served as a qualification method for the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Trinidad and Tobago, eight-time champions, and Jamaica, six-time champions, were the most successful teams, winning a combined 14 titles of 18 editions. Martinique, Haiti, Cuba and Curaçao also won the tournament.
In 1990 on the day of the final, an insurrection in Trinidad and Tobago, the host nation, by the Jamaat al Muslimeen forced an abandonment of the tournament with only the final and 3rd place play-off game remaining. Also, the tournament was not held in 2000, 2002 and 2003.
The 2017 edition of the tournament was the 19th and final. The tournament was discontinued in favour of participation in the CONCACAF Nations League.
Sponsors Over the years, the tournament has been named after its respective sponsors. Shell had sponsored the competition since its inception in 1989.
By February 1996, Jack Warner had announced a new sponsorship from sports apparel company Umbro for the 1996 Caribbean Cup. The tournament was also co-sponsored by Umbro in 1997 before Shell re-attained sole-sponsorship for the 1998 event.
In October 1998, during the first and only year of sponsorship from the Asia Sport Group (now World Sport Group), the competition changed its name to Copa Caribe. CFU's chairman Jack Warner stated that the change was made to highlight the competition being a branch of the Copa de Oro. Florida-based Inter/Forever (now Traffic Group) agreed a sponsorship deal to replace the Asia Sport Group agreement in January 1999. The competition retained the title Copa Caribe for the 1999 and 2001 editions.
There was no competition held in 2003, instead teams focused on a group-stage only qualifying tournament.
Caribbean-based mobile phone company Digicel took over the sponsorship in 2004, in June 2007 they agreed to sponsor the 2008 and 2010 events. The 2012 and 2014 editions of the competition had no title sponsor, while the last tournament (in 2017) was sponsored by Scotiabank.
Results YearHostsFinalThird place gameChampionsResultsRunners-upThird placeResultsFourth place19892–1–No third place playoff was played. Third place was awarded based on table standings.1990The tournament was unfinished, the final and third place matches were not playedPlay was suspended when Jamaat al Muslimeen attempted a coup d'état of the government of Trinidad and Tobago. The tournament was abandoned altogether after Tropical storm Arthur forced the cancellation of the final round of games. Trinidad and Tobago were to meet Martinique in the final, and Jamaica and Barbados were to meet in the third place match.19912–04–119923–11–119930–03–219947–22–019955–03–019962–01–119974–04–119982–13–219992–1 and The third place match was cancelled due to condition of field after the final was already played.20013–01–02005Round-RobinRound-Robin20072–12–120082–00–020101–11–020121–01–020140–02–120172–11–0
Participating teams The 31 members of CFU participated on the tournament and qualification:
Performances Team Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth placeTotal8(1989, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2001)5(1991, 1998, 2007, 2012, 2014)2(1993, 2005)–156(1991, 1998, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2014)3(1992, 1993, 2017)2(1997, 1999)–111(2012)3(1996, 1999, 2005)3(1995, 2007, 2010)4(1992, 2001, 2008, 2014)111(2007)1(2001)4(1998, 1999, 2012, 2014)–61(1993)1(1994)3(1992, 1996, 2001)2(2012, 2017)7/1(2017)––1(1989)2–2(1989, 2008)–2(1997, 2010)4–1(2010)3(1989), (1994), (2008)1(2007)5–1(1997)–1(1993)2–1(1995)––1––1(1991)–1––1(2017)–1–––2(1994, 1996)2–––1(1991)1–––1(1995)1–––1(1998)1–––1(2005)1 Notes Italic — Hosts
Awards YearMost Valuable playerTop Goalscorer(Finals only)Best goalkeeperFair play award1989 Steve Mark Dwight Yorke, Philbert Jones (2 goals) 1991 Paul Davis Paul Davis (5 goals) 1992 Leonson Lewis (7 goals) 1993 Walter Boyd Jean-Michel Modestin (5 goals) 1994 David Nakhid 1995 David Nakhid 1996 Russell Latapy (6 goals) 1997 Jerren Nixon Clayton Ince1998 Stern John Stern John (10 goals) Clayton Ince1999 Raciel Martínez Ariel Álvarez (5 goals) 2001 Dennis Lawrence Golman Pierre (5 goals) Clayton Ince2005 Andy Williams Luton Shelton (9 goals) 2007 Pierre Richard Bruny Gary Glasgow (6 goals) 2008 Eric Vernan Kithson Bain, Luton Shelton (5 goals) 2010 Rodolph Austin Dane Richards, Kithson Bain (3 goals) 2012 eight players (2 goals) 2014 Rodolph Austin Kervens Belfort, Darren Mattocks and Kevin Molino (3 goals)2017 Gino van Kessel Elson Hooi (2 goals) Eloy Room
Notes
See also CFU UNCAF NAFU CFU Championship Copa Centroamericana/Copa de Naciones UNCAF North American Nations Cup
References
External links Caribbean Football Union RSSSF archive