The CONCACAF Gold Cup is North America's major tournament in senior men's football and determines the continental champion. Until 1989, the tournament was known as the CONCACAF Championship. It is currently held every two years. From 1996 to 2005, nations from other confederations have regularly joined the tournament as invitees. In earlier editions, the continental championship was held in different countries, but since the inception of the Gold Cup in 1991, the United States are constant hosts or co-hosts.
From 1973 to 1989, the tournament doubled as the confederation's World Cup qualification. CONCACAF's representative team at the FIFA Confederations Cup was decided by a play-off between the winners of the last two tournament editions in 2015 via the CONCACAF Cup, but was then discontinued along with the Confederations Cup.
Since 1963, the Gold Cup was held 27 times and has been won by seven different nations, most often by Mexico (12 titles).
El Salvador hosted the inaugural CONCACAF Championship in 1963.Dunmore, Tom, and Murray, Scott. Soccer For Dummies. United Kingdom, Wiley, 2022. 187. In the final round, they started with two victories, but lost the final and decisive match against Costa Rica 1–4. In that tournament, Salvadoran striker Volkswagen Hernández was top striker with five goals.
Since then, El Salvador have finished as runners-up again in 1981, and earned third place in 1977. After 20 total appearances, El Salvador ranks eighth in the tournament's all-time table.
Overall record CONCACAF Championship & Gold Cup recordQualification recordYearRoundPositionSquad 1963Runners-up2nd73311711 SquadQualified as hosts 1965Fourth place4th521279 Squad2 2 0 0 7 1 1967Did not enterDid not enter 1969BannedBanned 1971WithdrewWithdrew 1973Did not qualify2 0 0 2 0 2 1977Third place3rd521289 Squad6 2 3 1 10 7 1981Runners-up2nd522121 Squad8 5 2 1 12 5 1985Fourth place4th421172 Squad2 2 0 0 8 0 1989Fifth place5th602428 Squad2 2 0 0 6 0 1991Did not qualify5 2 1 2 7 11 19933 0 1 2 1 5 1996Group stage6th210134 Squad4 3 0 1 7 3 1998Group stage8th301206 Squad5 1 1 3 2 5 2000Did not qualify8 1 2 5 6 15 2002Quarter-finals8th310215 Squad6 2 4 0 8 4 2003Quarter-finals6th310237 Squad5 3 0 2 6 4 2005Did not qualify2 0 0 2 1 3 2007Group stage9th310226 Squad5 2 1 2 4 5 2009Group stage9th310223 Squad5 1 1 3 5 8 2011Quarter-finals7th412188 Squad5 2 1 2 7 6 2013Quarter-finals7th411248 Squad4 1 2 1 2 2 2015Group stage9th302112 Squad4 2 0 2 4 3 2017Quarter-finals8th411246 Squad5 2 1 2 5 4 2019Group stage9th311114 Squad4 3 0 1 7 2 2021Quarter-finals6th420264Squad6501101 2023Group stage14th302134Squad412165 2025Group stage15th301204Squad6501126TotalRunners-up20/287722213481111—108492237143107
Match overview TournamentRoundOpponentScoreVenue 1963First round6–1San Salvador1–12–21–1Final round1–43–03–2 1965Final round0–2Guatemala City1–11–42–13–1 1977Final round2–1Monterrey1–3Mexico City0–13–2Monterrey2–2Mexico City 1981Final round0–1Tegucigalpa1–00–00–01–01985Group stage3–0San Salvador, El Salvador3–01–20–0Tegucigalpa, Honduras1989Final round2–4San Salvador, El Salvador0–1San José, Costa Rica0–2Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago0–0Tegucigalpa, Honduras0–10–0Fenton, United States 1996Group stage3–2Anaheim0–2 1998Group stage0–0Los Angeles0–40–2 2002Group stage0–1Pasadena1–0Quarter-finals0–4 2003Group stage0–2Foxboro1–0Quarter-finals2–5 2007Group stage2–1Carson0–10–4Foxboro 2009Group stage2–1Carson0–1Columbus0–1Miami 2011Group stage0–5Arlington1–1Charlotte6–1ChicagoQuarter-finals1–1 Washington, D.C. 2013Group stage2–2Harrison0–1Miami Gardens1–0HoustonQuarter-finals1–5Baltimore 2015Group stage0–0Carson1–1Houston0–1Toronto 2017Group stage1–3San Diego2–0Denver1–1San AntonioQuarter-finals0–2Philadelphia 2019Group stage1–0Kingston0–0Houston0–4Los Angeles 2021Group stage2–0Frisco2–00–1DallasQuarter-finals2–3Glendale 2023Group stage1–2Fort Lauderdale0–0Harrison2–2Houston 2025Group stage0–0San Jose0–2Houston0–2
Record by opponent CONCACAF Championship/Gold Cup matches (by team)Opponent0011041124232349111811026123277830145213486110235151012221067315 / 3205731001610303440011233003923216970178120
See also El Salvador at the FIFA World Cup
References