By RYAN TOLMICH
The U.S. Men’s Olympic Team now knows the path towards Olympic qualification.
In Tuesday’s draw, the U.S. was matched with Cuba, Canada and Panama in Group A of CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying.
The U.S. will be looking to qualify for the Olympics for the first time since 2008 after missing out on the 2012 games due to a third-place group stage finish behind El Salvador and Canada.
To kick off qualifying, the U.S. will start off against Canada on October 1 at Sporting Park, while the matches against Cuba and Panama will occur on October 3 and 6 at Sporting Park and Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, respectively.
CONCACAF Olympic qualifying awards two-and-a-half spots to the Olympics, with the finalists advancing directly to next summer’s games in Rio de Janeiro while the tournament’s third-place team will meet Colombia in a one-game playoff.
Here is a closer look at the complete schedule for the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying group stages:
GROUP A
October 1 (Sporting Park)
Panama vs. Cuba
U.S. vs. Canada
October 3 (Sporting Park)
Canada vs. Panama
Cuba vs. U.S.
October 6 (Dick’s Sporting Goods Park)
Canada vs. Cuba
U.S. vs. Panama
GROUP B
October 2 ( StubHub Center)
Honduras vs. Haiti
Mexico vs. TBD
October 4 (StubHub Center)
TBD vs. Honduras
Haiti vs. Mexico
October 7 ( Dick’s Sporting Goods)
TBD vs. Haiti
Mexico vs. Honduras
KNOCKOUT STAGES
October 10 (Rio Tinto Stadium)
Winner Group A vs. Runner-Up Group B
Winner Group B vs. Runner-Up Group A
October 13 (Rio Tinto Stadium)
Loser Semifinal 1 vs. Loser Semifinal 2
Winner Semifinal 1 vs. Winner Semifinal 2
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