Gold Cup takes center stage July 2 – August 1

Photo: The Gold Cup trophy will be contested for by 16 Concacaf teams starting tomorrow.

Football fans around the world are currently enjoying a summer packed with international football, namely in South America (Copa America) and Europe (Euro 2020).

On the tail end of those two tournaments comes the Concacaf Gold Cup which kicks off on July 2 in South Florida with the preliminary round where three teams will vie for a place in the group stages. The Group Stage will begin on July 10 in the Dallas area with Group A play.

Concacaf is celebrating their 60th anniversary and the Gold Cup is its premier men’s competition. The United States hosted and won the first ever CONCACAF Gold Cup in 1991 beating Honduras on penalties to claim the trophy. Mexico, however, are the most successful country in the tournament’s history, winning it eight times, followed by the USA with six and Canada with one.

The 2021 edition will be the 16th Concacaf Gold Cup. Mexico and USA are favorites to win the Gold Cup in 2021. The two countries met in the final three times between 2007-2011, with Mexico winning two out of three. It would not be surprising to see them face off in the final again. If the United States win, they would be just one win away from tying Mexico in all-time wins.

For the first time ever, at the 16th staging of the region’s flagship competition, Concacaf conducted a Gold Cup draw to set the stage for the 2021 edition. The prelim will include 12 Concacaf Member Associations competing for the final three spots in the 16-team Group Stage.

For the two-round Prelims, the participating national teams have been divided into six matchups. The 12 teams are Haiti vs St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Guatemala vs Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago vs Monserrat , Cuba vs French Guiana, Guadeloupe vs Bahamas and Bermuda vs Barbados.

The 12 Concacaf national teams, which qualified directly through their performances in the Concacaf Nations League group stage, the guest participant, AFC Asian Cup Champions Qatar, and the three Prelims winners will be divided into four groups.

The Knockout Stage, will be played among the top two finishers in each group, will for the first time in Gold Cup history see teams on opposite sides of the bracket meet from the quarterfinals onwards.

In previous editions, teams have only competed against opponents on the same side of the bracket until the Final. This change will add further unpredictability and excitement to the competition, which was expanded from 12 to 16 teams for a hugely successful 2019 edition.

Alberth Elis (Boavista FC/HON), Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich/CAN), Hirving Lozano (Napoli/MEX), Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy/USA), Keylor Navas (Paris Saint-Germain/CRC) and Leon Bailey (Bayer Leverkusen/JAM) are among the notable inclusions to the rosters for 2021.