San Diego was selected by The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) as one of the venues for the 2017 edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the official national team soccer championship of the region. On Sunday, July 9, San Diego will host an opening round double-header at Qualcomm Stadium featuring the Mexican national team as the seeded nation of Group C.
“From our passion for sports to our pride in being a binational region, there is no better place to bring people and countries together for an international soccer competition than San Diego,” said San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer. “We look forward to hosting the 2017 Gold Cup in America’s Finest City.” “With San Diego being a soccer town at heart, we are thrilled for the opportunity to host the opening round of the 2017 Gold Cup,” said Mike McDowell, executive director of the San Diego Sports Alliance, a strategic partner of the San Diego Tourism Authority. “Hosting the Gold Cup next July gives us a prime opportunity to show how our youth and adult soccer communities come together and go above and beyond in supporting professional soccer on an international stage. San Diego is known to provide a premium fan experience and I think those who make the trip to San Diego for Gold Cup are in for a treat given our thriving culinary and craft beer scene, our beaches, bays, along with world class hotels and attractions. We hope everyone who makes it out to San Diego for the opening round of Gold Cup will not only enjoy world class soccer, but a world class vacation as well,” McDowell said. Qualcomm Stadium previously hosted the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 1996 and 2000. Drawing large crowds and millions of television viewers across the region, the Gold Cup is a celebration of soccer, sportsmanship, and culture. The matches will take place from July 7-26 in 14 U.S. cities. The winner of the 2017 tournament will win continental bragging rights and an assured spot in the CONCACAF Cup play-in game to qualify for the 2021 FIFA Confederations Cup, if needed. Taking place every two years, the CONCACAF Gold Cup includes North and Central America and the Caribbean. For the upcoming edition of the Gold Cup, CONCACAF has taken steps to expand the tournament to emerging soccer markets, allowing more fans across the country to take part in the continental championship first-hand. The 2017 Gold Cup will feature four first-time hosts. Returning in 2017 are nine previous Gold Cup host venues.
To date, seven of the twelve national teams scheduled to participate have qualified for next year’s tournament: Canada, Curacao, French Guiana, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, and the United States, in alphabetical order, will compete for the Confederation crown in July.
Canada, Mexico and the United States automatically qualify for the Gold Cup in representation of North America. The four Caribbean nations already qualified did so by winning their groups in the recently completed semifinal stage of the Scotiabank CFU Caribbean Cup. The top four finishers from January’s UNCAF Central American Cup, to be played in Panama, will also qualify.
Three additional Caribbean nations, Haiti, Suriname and Trinidad & Tobago, have qualified for an additional series of matches in January, the winner of which will face off next year in a two-leg playoff against the fifth-place team from the UNAF Central American Cup to determine the final participant in the 2017 Gold Cup.
The dates for Gold Cup matches scheduled for each group stage city were also announced, as well as the groups to be headed up by each of the tournament’s two seeded teams: the United States (Group B), and Mexico (Group C). Group A will be filled out pending the completion of the tournament field, with the UNCAF Central American Cup set to determine that region’s qualifiers in January.
Complete groups and schedule, including selection of dates and assignment of matches for the knockout round and the awarding of the Final, will be announced next year. Exclusive presale offering
Fans can now visit www.GoldCup.org to sign up for an exclusive pre-sale offering for any Gold Cup game-day in 2017, before seats go on sale to the general public. Tickets for the 2017 Gold Cup will go on sale at a later date. The San Diego Sports Alliance encourages fans to purchase their tickets early in order to secure the best seats for a great fan experience.