1957 CCCF Championship
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country |  Netherlands Antilles |
| Dates | 11–25 August |
| Teams | 5 |
| Venue(s) | Ergilio Hato Stadium, Willemstad |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Haiti (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Curaçao |
| Third place |  Honduras |
| Fourth place |  Panama |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 10 |
| Goals scored | 31 (3.1 per match) |
| Top scorer | Phenol Charles (8 goals) |
| Best player |  Francisco Torrent |
← 1955 1960 → | |
The 1957 CCCF Championship was the eighth international association football championship for members of the Confederación Centroamericana y del Caribe de Fútbol (CCCF). Hosted by Curaçao in the newly formed Netherlands Antilles, the competition ran from 11–25 August 1957 and was contested by the national teams of Cuba, Curaçao, Haiti, Honduras and Panama.
Debutants Haiti won the competition for the first time. In the final matches of the round-robin tournament, they were crowned champions after completing a clean and winning all of their matches by defeating Cuba 6–1.
Background
[edit]The Confederación Centroamericana y del Caribe de Fútbol (CCCF) was founded in 1938. Along with the North American Football Confederation (NAFC), it was a precursor organisation to the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF). Within three years of its founding, the CCCF organised a contest for its member associations.[1][2]
Although the competition was hosted in the then newly constituted nation of the Netherlands Antilles, the national team of would not adopted the new nation's name for another year. It would continue to compete as Curaçao until after qualifying for the 1958 FIFA World Cup.[3]
Costa Rica were two-time defending champions after they successfully retained the trophy in 1955. They were the most successful team in the competition's history having won five of the seven editions to date.[1] However, they would be unable to retain their title as they withdrew from the competition before it began for financial reasons.[4]
Shortly before the competition began, Guatemala also withdrew after a national state of emergency was declared following the assassination of President Carlos Castillo Armas.[4]
Format
[edit]The tournament was played as a round-robin where each team would play all of the others once. The winner would be decided by the total number of points obtained across all matches played.[4]
Participants
[edit]Squads
[edit]Referees
[edit]Three referees were used during the tournament:[5]
Venue
[edit]All matches were held at the Ergilio Hato Stadium in Willemstad.[4]
| Willemstad |
|---|
| Ergilio Hato Stadium |
| Capacity: 15,000 |
 |
Summary
[edit]The competition began on 11 August when a brace from Fernando Zelaya helped Honduras to a 2–1 win against Panama. Two days later, Curaçao defeated Haiti 3–1. On 14 August, Panama recorded their first win of the competition by defeating Cuba 1–0. Two days later, Haiti defeated Honduras 2–1 to go top of the table. On 18 August, Curaçao defeated Cuba 2–0. At the halfway stage, Haiti led the standings on four points, two clear of Curaçao, Honduras and Panama.[4]
The following day, a Phenol Charles brace helped Haiti to a 3–1 win against Panama. On 21 August, Honduras defeated Cuba 2–0 and Curaçao defeated Panama 3–0. In the final matches two days later, Phenol scored a hat-trick as Haiti defeated Cuba 6–1 to secure the title. Curaçao and Honduras drew 1–1.[4]
Table
[edit]| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Haiti |
4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 4 | 3.500 | 8 |
| 2 | Curaçao |
4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 1.750 | 5 |
| 3 | Honduras |
4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 1.500 | 5 |
| 4 | Panama |
4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 0.375 | 2 |
| 5 | Cuba |
4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 0.091 | 0 |
Results
[edit]
All-Star Team
[edit]| Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Celso Polinet |
|
|
|
References
[edit]- 1 2 Stokkermans, Karel (7 July 2025). "CCCF and Concacaf Championships". RSSSF. Retrieved 24 April 2026.
- ↑ "CONCACAF Gold Cup Competition". CONCACAF. Archived from the original on 19 March 2012. Retrieved 24 April 2026.
- ↑ "History of the FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition (by year)" (PDF). FIFA.com. Archived from the original (pdf) on June 15, 2010. Retrieved 8 April 2012.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Knight, Ken; Lugo, Erik Francisco; Mendoza, Eduardo; Morrison, Neil (15 April 2021). "CCCF Championship 1957 (Willemstad, Curaçao, Aug 11-25)". RSSSF. Retrieved 24 April 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Lugo, Erik Francisco; Mendoza, Eduardo (15 April 2021). "VIII CCCF Championship 1957 - Match Details". RSSSF. Retrieved 24 April 2026.