1988 CONCACAF Pre-Olympic Tournament

Tournament details
Dates	5 September 1987 – 25 May 1988
Teams	6 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	11
Top scorer(s)	Brent Goulet (6 goals)
← 1984 1992 →

The 1988 CONCACAF Pre-Olympic Tournament was the seventh edition of the CONCACAF Pre-Olympic Tournament, the quadrennial, international football tournament organised by the CONCACAF to determine which national teams from the North, Central America and Caribbean region qualify for the Olympic football tournament. ^[1]

United States and Guatemala qualified for the 1988 Summer Olympics: Mexico had originally qualified, but were disqualified after receiving a two-year suspension by FIFA arising from the Cachirules scandal.

Qualification

Qualified teams

The following teams qualified for the final tournament.

Zone	Country	Method of qualification	Appearance 1	Last appearance	Previous best performance	Previous Olympic appearances (last)
North America	Mexico	First round winners	4th	1976	Winners ( 1964, 1972, 1976)
	United States	First round winners	4th	1980	Runners-up ( 1972, 1980)
Central America	El Salvador	First round winners	2nd	1968	Final round winner without outright champions ( 1968)
	Guatemala	First round winners	4th	1976	Runners-up ( 1976)
Caribbean	Guyana	Second round winners	1st	0 (debut)	Debutant
	Trinidad and Tobago	Second round winners	2nd	1968	Final round ( 1968)

¹ Only final tournament.

Final round

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	United States	4	4	0	0	13	4	+9	8	Qualification to 1988 Summer Olympics
2	Trinidad and Tobago	3	1	0	2	2	5	−3	2
3	El Salvador	3	0	0	3	3	9	−6	0

5 September 1987 (1987-09-05)

United States	4–1	Trinidad and Tobago

West Community Stadium, Fenton

Referee: J. Chinchilla ( Guatemala)

20 September 1987 (1987-09-20)

Trinidad and Tobago	0–1	United States

Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain

Referee: R. Paz Escoto ( Honduras)

18 October 1987 (1987-10-18)

El Salvador	2–4	United States

Estadio Cuscatlán, San Salvador

Referee: D. Douglas ( Canada)

15 May 1988 (1988-05-15)

El Salvador	0–1	Trinidad and Tobago

Estadio Cuscatlán, San Salvador

Referee: D. Brumitt ( Canada)

25 May 1988 (1988-05-25)

United States	4–1	El Salvador

Referee: E. Codesal ( Mexico)

Note: The match between Trinidad and Tobago and El Salvador scheduled for 29 May 1988 was scratched by mutual agreement between the two countries.

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Mexico	4	4	0	0	16	1	+15	8	Disqualified
2	Guatemala	4	2	0	2	10	5	+5	4	Qualification to 1988 Summer Olympics
3	Guyana	4	0	0	4	0	20	−20	0

18 October 1987 (1987-10-18)

Guatemala	6–0	Guyana

Estadio del Ejército, Guatemala City

Referee: R . Osborne ( Bermuda)

25 October 1987 (1987-10-25)

Guyana	0–3	Guatemala

Estadio del Ejército, Guatemala City

Referee: G. Arrowsmith ( Canada)

2 December 1987 (1987-12-02)

Guyana	0–9	Mexico

Santa Ana Stadium, Santa Ana

Referee: F. Fuksman ( United States)

9 December 1987 (1987-12-09)

Mexico	2–0 Awarded	Guyana
	w/o

3 February 1988 (1988-02-03)

Mexico	2–1	Guatemala

Estadio Nemesio Díez, Toluca

Referee: L. Sirjuesingh ( Trinidad and Tobago)

14 February 1988 (1988-02-14)

Guatemala	0–3	Mexico

Estadio del Ejército, Guatemala City

Referee: O. Brea Ramos ( Cuba)

Notes

• The match between Mexico and Guyana, scheduled for 9 December 1987, was abandoned after fifteen members of the Guyanese squad defected and asked for political asylum while on a training camp in California, leaving them unable to field a team for the match. Mexico were awarded a 2–0 victory by CONCACAF.
• As Mexico were disqualified after their federation received a two-year suspension by FIFA, Guatemala took their place in the final tournament.

Mexico's disqualification

References