2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup on arvau

Wikipedia / 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup

The 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the sixth edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). This was the last Gold Cup to be played in an even-numbered year and in the first two months of a calendar year; since 2003 the tournament has been played every odd-numbered year's June and/or July.

The tournament was once again held in the United States, in Miami and Pasadena. The format of the tournament stayed the same as in 2000: twelve teams were split into four groups of three. The top two teams in each group would advance to the quarterfinals. Ecuador and South Korea were invited from outside CONCACAF.

Canada, who rode the coin toss all the way to winning the 2000 Cup, needed luck once again, as all games in Group D ended with a 2–0 result. Lots were drawn, with Canada and Haiti moving on to the next round; Ecuador did not. But the Canadian team's luck ran dry in the semifinals, as the U.S. beat them on penalties after tying 0–0. The United States then met Costa Rica in the final and topped them 2–0 behind goals by Josh Wolff and Jeff Agoos for their first tournament win since 1991.

During the tournament, Cuban players Alberto Delgado and Rey Ángel Martínez defected from Cuba to the United States.

Qualified teams

Team	Qualification	Appearances	Last Appearance	Previous best performance	FIFA Ranking
North American zone
Automatic	6th	2000	Champions (1993,1996, 1998)	9
Automatic	6th	2000	Champions (1991)	24
(TH)	Automatic	5th	2000	Champions (2000)	93
Caribbean zone qualified through the 2001 Caribbean Cup
Winners	5th	2000	Third place (1993)	34
Runners-up	2nd	2000	Group Stage (2000)	82
Third Place	2nd	1993	Group Stage (1993)	N/A
Playoff	2nd	1998	Group Stage (1998)	75
Central American zone qualified through the 2001 UNCAF Nations Cup
Winners	5th	2000	Fourth Place (1996)	59
Runners-up	5th	2000	Third place (1993)	30
Third Place	3rd	1998	Group stage (1996, 1998)	86
Other
Invitation	1st	None	Debut	38
Invitation	2nd	2000	Group stage (2000)	42

Qualification play-off

A qualification playoff to determine the final Gold Cup entrant was held in July and August 2001.

Cuba won 1–0 on aggregate.

Venues

Pasadena	Miami
Rose Bowl	Orange Bowl
Capacity: 93,000	Capacity: 74,000

Squads

The 12 national teams involved in the tournament were required to register a squad of 18 players; only players in these squads were eligible to take part in the tournament.