Four days after receiving a favorable draw for the group stage of the Concacaf Gold Cup this summer, the U.S. men’s national soccer team on Tuesday learned the dates and venues for those early matches.
The defending champions will open June 24 against Jamaica at Chicago’s Soldier Field, host a qualifying team June 28 at CityPark in St. Louis, then face Nicaragua on July 2 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
By finishing first or second in Group A, the United States would play a quarterfinal July 9 at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati. Las Vegas and San Diego will host the July 12 semifinals and SoFi Stadium in greater Los Angeles will stage the July 16 final.
Thirteen U.S. cities, plus Toronto, were selected for the 16-team tournament. Mexico, the 2021 runner-up, will play group-stage matches in Houston, greater Phoenix and Santa Clara, Calif. Canada, the other tournament favorite, will open in Toronto before playing twice in Houston.
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While Jamaica is a formidable opponent for the United States, Nicaragua is No. 140 in the FIFA rankings and holds a 1-17-0 record in Gold Cup history. The United States and Nicaragua have faced each other once, a 3-0 U.S. victory in 2017.
The potential opponents from the qualifiers are Curaçao, St. Kitts and Nevis, French Guiana and Sint Maarten.
Curaçao is the only top-100 team in the qualifying quartet, which will be contested June 16-20 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Fielding many players with Dutch roots, Curaçao qualified for the group stage of the 2019 tournament and advanced to the quarterfinals before falling to the United States, 1-0, in Philadelphia.
The United States and Jamaica have met in the knockout stage of the previous four Gold Cups, including the 2017 final.
Since 2002, the United States has reached every semifinal, won six titles and finished second three times.
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Before the draw, the United States, 2021 runner-up Mexico, Costa Rica and Canada were given the group top seeds.
In Group B, Mexico will play Haiti, Honduras and Qatar, which, for the second consecutive tournament, will compete as an invited guest. (Qatar Airways is a tournament sponsor.) Two years ago, as part of its preparations to host the 2022 World Cup, Qatar reached the Gold Cup semifinals before losing to the United States, 1-0, on Gyasi Zardes’s 86th-minute goal.
In Group C, Costa Rica will be joined by Central American rivals Panama and El Salvador, as well as a qualifier among Martinique, Suriname, St. Lucia and Puerto Rico.
In Group D, Canada will face Guatemala, Cuba and a qualifier from Trinidad & Tobago, Guadeloupe, Grenada and Guyana.
The Gold Cup will begin just six days after another Concacaf competition, the Nations League, concludes in Las Vegas. In the June 15 semifinals, the reigning champion United States will clash with Mexico and Canada will face Panama. The final and third-place match are June 18.
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Because of the heavy schedule, U.S. interim coach Anthony Hudson is expected to use two different squads — just as Gregg Berhalter did in 2021 when the Americans defeated Mexico in both finals. Fresh off league seasons, European-based U.S. players are likely to play in the Nations League before going on summer break. An MLS-heavy roster would then compete in the Gold Cup.
“Overall, I’m pleased with the draw,” Hudson said in a statement. “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. As we know, these teams are improving every year, and that’s good for everyone.”
This story has been updated.
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