18 December 1961 - A Name Only An ENT Could Love

On 18 December 1961, the North American Football Confederation and the Football Confederation of Central America and the Caribbean merged to form the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football, better known by its acronym, CONCACAF.

As one of the six FIFA confederations, CONCACAF is in charge of World Cup qualification for its member teams. It also runs its own competitions, including the Gold Cup for international sides and the CONCACAF Champions League for clubs.

At the international level, the confederation has been controlled by the United States and Mexico who, between the two of them, have earned more than half of the confederation's World Cup appearances. Mexico has advanced the furthest, making it to the World Cup quarterfinals in 1970 and 1986 (both times as the host country). El Tri also dominates at the club level, with the three highest-ranked clubs at present (Cruz Azul, Pachuca, and Deportivo Toluca) all coming from Mexico's Primera División.

Curiously, CONCACAF also includes three South American teams--Guyana, French Guiana, and Suriname.