The two Caribbean teams were joined by the fourth place team in the 2003 UNCAF Nations Cup in a round-robin playoff for two spots in the Gold Cup. From 2007 to 2017, no nations from outside the CONCACAF region participated in the Gold Cup. The 12-team tournament consisted of three North American, five Central American, and four Caribbean teams. For the 2015 and 2017 tournaments, the fifth Central American spot was awarded to the winner of a two-leg playoff featuring the 5th place teams from the Copa Centroamericana and the Caribbean Cup. The Central American team won the playoff on both occasions. Beginning with the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup, qualification has been linked to the CONCACAF Nations League. Held in 2018–19, the one-off CONCACAF Nations League qualifying tournament determined ten of the sixteen Gold Cup participants. For the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup, twelve spots were awarded based on the results of the 2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League, an invitation was given to Qatar, and the final three berths were determined from a two-round play-off qualifier. Participating teams All national teams that are members of CONCACAF are eligible to enter the qualification for the Gold Cup. A total of 41 distinct entities have made attempts to qualify for the Gold Cup. Due to political changes, one of the entity has appeared under one incarnation (see the footnotes to the below table), the Netherlands Antilles team is now defunct. Successor teams inheriting the records of former teams (as considered by CONCACAF and FIFA) Teams competing as parts of other teams See also FIFA World Cup qualification AFC Asian Cup qualifiers UEFA European Championship qualifying References Gold Cup qualification