Though the USMNT plays in a different zone in CONCACAF, the Union of Central American Football (UNCAF) announced plans on Tuesday to move the Copa Centroamericana to the USA. The venue selection is ongoing with the site or sites for the tournament announced at a later date.

As the name suggests, the Copa Centroamericana is the championship for UNCAF, one of the three zones within CONCACAF. The participating teams are Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.

The Copa Centroamericana is one of two qualifying tournaments for the CONCACAF Gold Cup alongside the Caribbean zone’s Caribbean Cup. Five of the seven teams that enter the Copa Centroamericana advance to the Gold Cup. All three members of the North American zone qualify for the Gold Cup directly and there is no qualifying tournament.

UNCAF’s decision to move the tournament to the USA and scheduling it during the September international window is an attempt to create a more competitive tournament. The decision comes from an Executive Committee meeting last week in San Luis Talpa, El Salvador and was unanimous.

The 2013 Copa Centroamericana took place in San Jose, Costa Rica. the Estadio Nacional hosted all of the games. That tournament featured two groups of four and three teams playing three or two games and advancing to a semifinal stage. Due to the five qualifying spots, the tournament also has a 5th-place game to determine the final qualifier. In 2013, Costa Rica won the Copa Centroamericana, beating Honduras in the final. El Salvador won the 3rd-place game, Belize finished 4th, and Panama won the 5th-place game.