Dates 19 March – 19 November Fourth place Guatemala Teams 5 Matches played 18 | Runners-up United States Start date 1989 Goals scored 29 | |
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Top scorer(s) Eight players
(2 goals each) Champion Costa Rica national football team Third place Trinidad and Tobago national football team People also search for 1985 CONCACAF Championship | ||
The 1989 CONCACAF Championship was the tenth and last edition of the CONCACAF Championship held under the format of serving as qualification to the 1990 FIFA World Cup and having no host nation for the final round. The tournament would be succeeded by the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 1991.
Contents
Costa Rica narrowly emerged as champions on goal difference to win their third title and participate in their first World Cup ever. The United States finished runners-up by virtue of one goal, but qualified for their first World Cup in forty years after beating Trinidad and Tobago in 1–0, with a goal dubbed "The Shot Heard around the World".
A total of sixteen CONCACAF teams entered the competition. However, FIFA rejected the entry of Belize due to debts to FIFA. The North, Central American and Caribbean zone was allocated 2 places (out of 24) in the final tournament.
Qualification
Five teams qualified from the two stage qualification process that ran from April to November 1988. Mexico were disqualified during this stage after having been found to have fielded over-aged players during the 1988 Olympic Games qualifiers which was a youth tournament. Their scheduled opponents Costa Rica therefore advanced to the Final Round unopposed.
Final round
Costa Rica won the 1989 CONCACAF Championship and, along with the United States, qualified for the 1990 FIFA World Cup.