The draw for the 2023 edition of the Concacaf Gold Cup, a tournament held to determine the continental champion of North America, Central America and the Caribbean took place Friday, placing the defending champions United States and rivals Mexico on opposite sides of the bracket.
The hosts and 2021 Gold Cup winners, the United States Men's National Team, was grouped with Jamaica, Nicaragua and a play-in winner involving Curaçao, St. Kitts & Nevis, French Guiana or Sint Maarten in Group A as they begin their title defense.
There hasn't been a team to win the Gold Cup in back-to-back editions since Mexico in 2009 and 2011, but the United States can join their rivals in that category if the Bars and Stripes can manage to win the tournament again this summer.
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“Overall, I’m pleased with the draw,” USMNT head coach Anthony Hudson said. “I think Jamaica is a really tough team and our previous experience in this competition tells us that there are no easy opponents and every game is complicated."
The runner-up of 2021’s Gold Cup, Mexico, was placed in arguably the toughest group of the tournament, which includes invited guests Qatar, a Haiti side that has taken competitive strides in recent years and a rival Honduras side seeking a chance to rise within the ranks of Concacaf after a disappointing World Cup Qualifying cycle.
El Tri and newly-appointed head coach Diego Cocca will look to recover from a subpar showing at the 2022 World Cup and will look to defeat their rivals the USMNT, who they've failed to defeat in their last four competitive matches, if the two teams cross paths.
A trio of teams very familiar with the tournament, Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador were placed into Group C with the the winner from the preliminary rounds, while Group D will contain Canada, Guatemala, Cuba and an additional team yet to be determined.
14 cities across the U.S. and Canada will serve as hosts for the tournament: Arlington, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Glendale, Harrison, Houston, Las Vegas, San Diego, Santa Clara, St. Louis, Toronto and Inglewood.
The tournament will take place from June 16 to July 16 with the final being hosted at SoFi Stadium. The preliminary round will run from June 16-20, the 16-team group stage of the Gold Cup will commence on June 24.
The top two teams from each group will move onto the knockout stage, with the start of the quarterfinal round scheduled for July 8-9, semifinals on July 12, and the final at SoFi Stadium on Sunday, July 16.
The remaining spot in Group C will be filled by the winners of Martinique vs. St. Lucia and Suriname vs. Puerto Rico, while the winners of Trinidad & Tobago vs. Guadeloupe and Guyana vs. Grenada will play for the final spot in Group D.
The pairings for Round 2 will be as follows:
- Matchup 7: Winner Matchup 1 vs Winner Matchup 6
- Matchup 8: Winner Matchup 2 vs Winner Matchup 5
- Matchup 9: Winner Matchup 3 vs Winner Matchup 4
The Matchups for the Group Stage will be as follows:
- Group A: United States, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Winner Matchup 9
- Group B: Mexico, Haiti, Honduras, Qatar
- Group C: Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador, Winner Matchup 8
- Group D: Canada, Guatemala, Cuba, Winner Matchup 7
A full schedule with times and locations of each game is expected to be announced in the coming days.
