1981 CFU Championship

The 1981 CFU Championship was the third international association football championship for members of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU). Hosted by Puerto Rico, the competition ran from 19–25 October 1981 and was contested by the national teams of Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago.

Trinidad and Tobago won the competition for the first time after defeating hosts Puerto Rico 6–0 in final match of the round-robin tournament.

The Caribbean Football Union (CFU) was founded in January 1978 as a sub-confederation of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF). Later the same year, the first CFU Championship was organised in Trinidad and Tobago.

Haiti were the defending champions after winning the previous edition in Suriname. Haiti and Suriname were the joint-most successful teams in the history of the competition with one title each.

Four qualifying rounds were held to determine three of the four teams that would participate in the final tournament. Hosts Puerto Rico qualified automatically. In the first round, the 10 teams were drawn into five two-legged ties. The team scoring more goals on aggregate in each tie would advance to the next stage. In the second round, two of the remaining five teams were drawn into a two-legged tie. The team scoring more goals on aggregate, along with the three other teams, would advance to the next stage.

In the semi-final round, the remaining four teams were drawn into two two-legged ties. The team scoring more goals on aggregate in each tie would qualify for the final tournament. A two-legged play-off round was then held between the two losing teams from the semi-final round. The team scoring more goals on aggregate would qualify for the final tournament.

The final tournament was played as a single round-robin where each team would play all of the others once. The winner would be decided by the total number of points obtained across all matches played.

The qualification stage ran from June to September 1981.

In the first round, Trinidad and Tobago defeated Jamaica 4–2 on aggregate, Guadeloupe defeated Dominica 8–2 on aggregate and St Vincent and the Grenadines defeated Martinique 4–2 on aggregate. Suriname and French Guyana drew 4–4 on aggregate and Suriname won a play-off 1–0. St Lucia withdrew and Barados received a walkover to the second round.

St Lucia withdrew, Barbados advanced.

Trinidad and Tobago won 4–2 on aggregate.

Guadeloupe won 8–2 on aggregate.

4–4 on aggregate.

St Vincent and the Grenadines won 4–2 on aggregate.

In the second round, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados drew 2–2 on aggregate and Trinidad and Tobago won 4–2 on penalties.

2–2 on aggregate. Trinidad and Tobago won 4–2 on penalties.

In the semi-final round, Trinidad and Tobago defeated Suriname 4–3 on aggregate and Guadeloupe defeated St Vincent and the Grenadines 4–2 on aggregate to qualify for the final tournament.

Trinidad and Tobago won 4–3 on aggregate.

Guadeloupe won 4–3 on aggregate.

In the play-off, St Vincent and the Grenadines defeated Suriname 5–4 on aggregate to qualify for the final tournament.

St Vincent and the Grenadines won 5–4 on aggregate.

The final tournament was held from 19–25 October 1981. After winning their opening two matches, Trinidad and Tobago were crowned champions when they defeated Puerto Rico 6–0 in their final match.