1973 CONCACAF Championship

1973 CONCACAF Championship
Coupe des nations de la CONCACAF 1973
Tournament details
Host countryHaiti
Dates29 November – 18 December
Teams6 (from 1 confederation)
Venue1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions Haiti (1st title)
Runners-up Trinidad and Tobago
Third place Mexico
Fourth place Honduras
Tournament statistics
Matches played15
Goals scored43 (2.87 per match)
Attendance223,442 (14,896 per match)
Top scorerTrinidad and Tobago Steve David (7 goals)
← 1971
1977 →

The 1973 CONCACAF Championship, the sixth edition of the CONCACAF Championship, was held in Haiti from 29 November to 18 December. All matches were played at Stade Sylvio Cator in Port-au-Prince. This is the first edition to double as qualification for the World Cup. Haiti became winners for the first time in the CONCACAF region and qualified for West Germany '74. The North, Central American and Caribbean zone was allocated 1 place (out of 16) in the World Cup.

Controversy

In quite a controversial match, Haiti defeated Trinidad and Tobago 2–1, with the referee disallowing four Trinidad and Tobago goals. As a result, referee Jose Roberto Henriquez and linesman James Higuet received lifetime bans from FIFA for their actions during the match.

There has been speculation that there might have been some collusion in favour of Haiti, due to the tournament taking place there during the military dictatorship of Jean-Claude Duvalier in a pivotal tournament that would send the winner to the 1974 FIFA World Cup. However, at the time, this was just the team’s second match of a round-robin tournament, having already won its first at the score of 3–0 against the Netherlands Antilles with no such known controversy as well as the matches that followed.

Qualification

Teams

Squads

Venues

Location of the host city of the 1973 CONCACAF Championship.
 Port-au-Prince
Stade Sylvio Cator
Capacity: 15,000

Results

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Haiti (C) 5 4 0 1 8 3 +5 8 1974 FIFA World Cup
2  Trinidad and Tobago 5 3 0 2 11 4 +7 6
3  Mexico 5 2 2 1 10 5 +5 6
4  Honduras 5 1 3 1 6 6 0 5
5  Guatemala 5 0 3 2 4 6 −2 3
6  Netherlands Antilles 5 0 2 3 4 19 −15 2
Source:
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored;
(C) Champions
Honduras 2–1 Trinidad and Tobago
Guifarro 33'
Hernández 51'		 David 61'
Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince
Attendance: 12,816
Referee: Davies (Canada)
Mexico 0–0 Guatemala
Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince
Attendance: 12,816
Referee: Highet (Canada)
Haiti 3–0 Netherlands Antilles
Sanon 25', 61'
Désir 29'
Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince
Attendance: 12,816
Referee: Soto Paris (Costa Rica)
Honduras 1–1 Mexico
Guifarro 54' H. López 73'
Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince
Attendance: 12,816
Referee: Winsemann (Canada)
Haiti 2–1 Trinidad and Tobago
Sanon 9'
R. Saint-Vil 88'		 David 14'
Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince
Attendance: 12,816
Referee: Henriquez (El Salvador)
Netherlands Antilles 2–2 Guatemala
Toppenberg 18'
Schoop 75'		 Roldán 6'
Morales 63'
Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince
Attendance: 14,257
Referee: Kibritjian (United States)
Haiti 1–0 Honduras
G. Saint-Vil 59'
Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince
Attendance: 14,257
Referee: Winsemann (Canada)
Mexico 8–0 Netherlands Antilles
H. López 10', 76'
Muciño 32', 45', 46', 82'
Pulido 35'
Lapuente 78'
Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince
Attendance: 14,257
Referee: Luis Siles Calderón (Costa Rica)
Trinidad and Tobago 1–0 Guatemala
David 30'
Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince
Attendance: 15,361
Referee: Soto Paris (Costa Rica)
Honduras 2–2 Netherlands Antilles
Soza 33'
Guifarro 50'		 Clemencia 62'
St. Jago 73'
Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince
Attendance: 15,361
Referee: Chaplin (Jamaica)
Haiti 2–1 Guatemala
Sanon 28', 72' Monterroso 4'
Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince
Attendance: 15,361
Referee: Davies (Canada)
Trinidad and Tobago 4–0 Mexico
Cummings 35', 39'
David 52'
Archibald 62'
Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince
Attendance: 15,361
Referee: Winsemann (Canada)
Honduras 1–1 Guatemala
Bran 15' Banegas 83'
Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince
Attendance: 15,435
Referee: Schott (United States)
Trinidad and Tobago 4–0 Netherlands Antilles
David 16', 51', 62'
Brunken red-colored football 33' (o.g.)
Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince
Attendance: 17,358
Referee: Ramirez (Puerto Rico)
Haiti 0–1 Mexico
Borja 30'
Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince
Attendance: 22,354
Referee: Kibritjian (United States)

Haiti qualified for the 1974 FIFA World Cup.

1973 CONCACAF Championship Winners
Haiti
Haiti
First title

Goalscorers

7 goals
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal

See also

References

  1. ↑ Liburd, Lasana (23 March 2021). "Haitian robbery; David, 'Gally' and 'Archie' erupt in controversial '74 campaign". Wired868. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  2. ↑ Newsday (18 June 2019). "Trinidad and Tobago's history at the Gold Cup". Trinidad and Tobago Newsday. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  3. ↑ Stokkermans, Karel & Jarreta, Sergio Henrique. "World Cup 1974 Qualifying". RSSSF, 22 October 1999. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  4. ↑ FIFA.com. "1974 FIFA World Cup Germany Preliminaries: Results, North, Central American and Caribbean Zone". FIFA. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  5. ↑ Reyes Padilla, Macario. "Mexico – International Results Details 1970–1979". RSSSF, 18 September 2008. Retrieved 24 March 2013.