Cuba Secures First Medal At ’71 Pan American Games After Dramatic Tied Finish

1971 Cuban Pan American Games Team/Photo Courtesy – Antonio Garcés (CUB)

By Steven Torres - ANCCIF President   (Posted on  21 August 2026)

   Cuba’s golden era of 1970s football truly ignited in Cali, Colombia, where the nation secured its first-ever bronze medal at the 1971 Pan American Games Football (Soccer) Tournament.

   Fresh off their second consecutive gold medal triumph at the 1970 Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Panama, the Leones del Caribe entered the Pan Am tournament with high expectations. Their confidence was backed by a rigorous, months long training regimen.

   “We underwent a grueling six-month preparation process,” recalled former defender Antonio Garcés. “This included an intensive Asian tour with stops in China, North Korea (Korea DPR) and Vietnam. We kept the core of our 1970 CAC roster but added North Korean Kim Yong Ha as our technical director. Though he spoke limited Spanish, his deep tactical knowledge transformed us. We learned immensely from him, and it showed on the pitch.”

   Cuba opened Group B at ’71 tournament on 1 August with a scoreless draw against Trinidad & Tobago at the Estadio Santa Ana in Cartago. Two days later at the same venue, Jorge Rafael Massó found the net along with Francisco Fariñas to lift Cuba to a commanding 2:0 victory over regional rivals Mexico.

   “The Mexico match remains the most memorable for me,” Garcés said. “A fierce rivalry had already brewed from our recent Concacaf World Cup qualifying encounters, so we knew their style intimately. We channeled those past experiences and combined them with our growth over the previous year. That victory defined our run and gave us the ultimate conviction that we were medal bound.”

   Cuba clinched the top spot (along with Trinidad & Tobago) in Group B on 4 August, sealing an undefeated opening round with a scoreless draw against Jamaica at the Estadio Santa Ana.

   Advancing to the final round-robin group, the Leones del Caribe crossed paths Trinidad & Tobago once more on 7 August. This time, it was Fariñas who stepped up, netting the lone goal in a 1:0 win at Palmira’s Estadio Francisco Rivera Escobar.

   The momentum carried into the next day at the Estadio Pascual Guerrero in Cali. In front of a raucous crowd of 50,000 spectators, Massó and José Verdecia struck to secure a historic 2:0 victory over the USA.

   “It was an incredibly intense match because we knew we were up against a powerhouse,” reflected former USA international Hugo Salcedo. “We had a strong, mentally resilient squad, but Cuba was a dominant force in the Concacaf region at the time. I honestly thought they were going to win the entire tournament.”

   However, the grueling schedule caught up with the Cubans as it suffered back-to-back narrow defeats at Estadio Pascual Guerrero to defending champions Argentina (1:0) and the hosts (2:1) on 9 and 11 August, respectively. 

   Needing a response in their final match on 12 August at Estadio Francisco Rivera Escobar, Cuba dug deep against Canada. A second-half strike by Luis Hernández—who went on to serve as the President of the Cuban Football Federation—secured a 1:0 victory.

   While Argentina claimed the gold medal by topping the final group standings with nine points, Cuba and Colombia finished deadlocked for second place with six points each. With tiebreakers exhausted, a literal coin flip by the Pan American Sports Organization (ODEPA) cruelly awarded the silver medal to the hosts, leaving the Leones del Caribe with a historic, if bittersweet, bronze.

   The podium finish proved to be no fluke. It catalyzed a decade of Cuban football dominance, which included two more CAC Games gold medals (‘74, ‘78), two Olympic Games appearances (‘76, ‘80), and a Pan American silver medal in ‘79.

Cuba Roster – 1971

GK: William Mathias Bennett (Mineros), José Francisco Reinoso (Azucareros);

DF: René Bonora (Granjeros), Carlos Henry Bracha (Mineros), Antonio Garcés (Granjeros), Luis María Holmaza (La Habana), Miguel Rivero (La Habana), Lorenzo Sotomayor (Granjeros), Gabriel Valenzuela (Azucareros);

MD: Luis Hernández (La Habana), Orestes Pérez (Gránjeros), Andrés Faustino Roldán (Azucareros);

AT: Carlos Azcuy (La Habana), José Luis Elejalde (La Habana), Francisco Fariñas (La Habana), Jorge Rafael Masso (La Habana), Francisco Javier Piedra (Azucareros), José Verdecia (Mineros).

TD: Kim YONG HA (PRK)

Results at '71 Pan American Games - Cali (Colombia)

Group B - Cartago

01.08: Cuba – Trinidad & Tobago 0:0

03.08: Mexico – Cuba 0:2

04.08: Cuba – Jamaica 0:0

Final Group

07.08: Cuba – Trinidad & Tobago 1:0 Palmira

08.08: USA – Cuba 0:2 Cali

09.08: Argentina – Cuba 1:0 Cali

11.08: Colombia – Cuba 2:1 Cali

12.08: Cuba – Canada 1:0 Palmira