CONCACAF to spread Gold Cup finals beyond US borders next year
MIAMI: CONCACAF has confirmed the 15 United States-based venues that will host the 2019 Gold Cup.
Matches will also be played in Central America and the Caribbean for the first time, with those venues set to be announced in the coming months. That ‘caring, sharing’ gesture appears to be a mirror of the cohosting bid from the US with Canada and Mexico for the 2026 World Cup.
New venues hosting the flagship national team tournament of the regional governing body for north and central America and the Caribbean, will include the Banc of California Stadium, the new home of Major League Soccer (MLS) team Los Angeles FC, and Allianz Field, the stadium set to open in early 2019 for MLS rival Minnesota United.
The 13 other venues have hosted Gold Cup matches before and include: Bank of America Stadium, BBVA Compass Stadium, Children’s Mercy Park, FirstEnergy Stadium, Lincoln Financial Field, Nissan Stadium, NRG Stadium, Red Bull Arena, Rose Bowl, Soldier Field, Sports Authority Field at Mile High, Toyota Stadium and University of Phoenix Stadium.
Next year’s Gold Cup will be an expanded version of the competition, with a record 16 nations set to compete.
To date, six of the 16 national teams scheduled to participate have qualified for next year’s tournament, those being the countries that participated in the 2018 Fifa World Cup Hexagonal qualifier round: Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States.
The additional participating nations will qualify through the Concacaf Nations League Qualifier competition, which will be played in September, October, and November of 2018, and March of 2019.
The US are the defending Gold Cup champions, having defeated Jamaica in the final of the 2017 edition when the competition was staged in the US.
CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani said: “The venues selected thus far offer a mix of soccer history as well as a taste of the future of the sport in the US, and we are excited to work with the local host committees to bring the game to fans all over the US.
“With the upcoming selection of additional venues in the Caribbean and Central America, the Gold Cup becomes a regional event on even more levels, as Concacaf continues to focus on making football accessible to more teams, players and fans.”
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