2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup
| CONCACAF Championship | |
|---|---|
2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup official logo
|
|
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | United States |
| Dates | July 6 – July 24 |
| Teams | 12 (from 3 confederations) |
| Venue(s) | 7 (in 7 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |
 United States (3rd title)
|
| Runners-up |  Panama |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 25 |
| Goals scored | 73 (2.92 per match) |
| Attendance | 340,018 (13,601 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |
 Carlos Ruiz Wilmer Velasquez Luis Tejada DaMarcus Beasley Landon Donovan(3 goals each) |
| Best player |
Luis Tejada
|
| Best goalkeeper |
Jaime Penedo
|
| Fair play award | Honduras |
The 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the eighth edition of the Gold Cup, the football championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). It was contested in the United States in July 2005. The United States emerged victorious in the final against an upstart Panama team led by tournament MVP Luis Tejada. After regulation and 30 minutes of extra time ended scoreless, the USA won 3-1 on penalties.
For this edition, the format was switched from four groups of three teams each to the three groups of four teams. As a result, there was one more group stage game for each team, and the likelihood of teams advancing on a coin toss was much less. The top two teams from each group and the two best third-place teams would advance to the quarterfinals.
As usual for the Gold Cup, several of the top teams fielded less than their top squads, including guest teams Colombia and South Africa. Mexico and the United States were missing at least half their usual starters, and a few top name players on smaller nations (Paulo Wanchope and Amado Guevara, among others) also declined to participate. During the tournament, matches in Miami's Group A had to be postponed because of Hurricane Dennis.
Caribbean zone qualified from the 2005 Caribbean Cup:
Central American zone qualified from the UNCAF Nations Cup 2005:
North American zone qualified automatically:
Guests:
Group A (Colombia, Honduras, Panama, and Trinidad & Tobago) started with an upset 1-0 win for Panama over Colombia and a 1-1 draw between Honduras and Trinidad. The second matchday saw Honduras defeat Colombia 2-1 and Panama and Trinidad draw with two goals apiece. This left guest nation Colombia at the bottom of the table heading into the final matchday, but with the format of the tournament all the teams were still alive. Colombia beat Trinidad in the first half of a doubleheader, meaning that Panama and Honduras would be guaranteed qualification. Honduras won to finish on top of the group, leaving Panama second; Colombia finished with three points and a goal differential of 0; they would have to wait for other games to determine whether they would advance.
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