CONCACAF reveals host sites for 2017 Gold Cup, destinations for USA, Mexico
The 14th CONCACAF Gold Cup will be played next summer at 14 venues across the USA, with stadiums in/near Dallas, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Santa Clara, California, in frame to host the knockout rounds and final, the regional governing body announced Monday.
The biennial confederation championship again will comprise 12 nations, including the USA and reigning champion Mexico. It will kick off July 7 and conclude on Wednesday, July 26, meaning there will be an atypical weeknight final. The U.S. will play first-round games in Nashville, Tampa and Cleveland. Mexico will play its group-stage matches in San Diego, Denver and San Antonio.
CONCACAF general secretary Philippe Moggio said officials hoped to “bring the Gold Cup to new markets across the country.”
To that end, the schedule includes four first-time hosts: San Antonio, Cleveland, Santa Clara and Nashville.
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The draw, match schedule and specific venues for the quarterfinals, semifinals and final won’t be announced until next year, CONCACAF said. While only seven of the 12 Gold Cup qualifiers have been determined, it’s been decided that Bruce Arena’s USA will be the seeded team in Group B while El Tri heads Group C.
The stadiums hosting group-stage doubleheaders will be:
GROUP A
July 7 — Red Bull Arena (Harrison, NJ)
July 11 — BBVA Compass Stadium (Houston)
July 14 — Toyota Stadium (Frisco, TX)
GROUP B
July 8 — Nissan Stadium (Nashville)
July 12 — Raymond James Stadium (Tampa)
July 15 — FirstEnergy Stadium (Cleveland)
GROUP C
July 9 — Qualcomm Stadium (San Diego)
July 13 — Sports Authority Field (Denver)
July 16 — Alamodome (San Antonio)
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The stadiums hosting knockout matches will be:
AT&T Stadium (Arlington, Texas)
Levi’s Stadium (Santa Clara)
Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia)
Rose Bowl (Pasadena, California)
University of Phoenix Stadium (Glendale, Arizona)
The Rose Bowl (2002 and 2011) and Lincoln Financial Field (2015) have hosted previous finals.
The USA, Mexico and Canada qualify automatically for the Gold Cup. Curaçao, French Guiana, Jamaica and Martinique booked passage after advancing to the semifinals of the Caribbean Cup, which will finish up in June. The Copa Centroamericana will be played next month in Panama and will send the top four finishers to the Gold Cup. The 12th and final Gold Cup berth will be decided by a playoff between the fifth-place teams from the Caribbean (Haiti, Suriname or Trinidad & Tobago) and Central America.
Previous CONCACAF Champions
1963 - Costa Rica
1965 - Mexico
1967 - Guatemala
1969 - Costa Rica
1971 - Mexico
1973 - Haiti
1977 - Mexico
1981 - Honduras
1985 - Canada
1989 - Costa Rica
Gold Cup era
1991 - USA
1993 - Mexico
1996 - Mexico
1998 - Mexico
2000 - Canada
2002 - USA
2003 - Mexico
2005 - USA
2007 - USA
2009 - Mexico
2011 - Mexico
2013 - USA
2015 - Mexico
