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Kansas City, Orlando, Austin among host cities for 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup

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The 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup is right around the corner this summer and the federation recently announced the host venues and cities for the upcoming tournament.

Orlando, Kansas City, and Austin were among the 11 cities announced by Concacaf on Thursday, who will all play host to group stage and knockout stage matches. Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium was already announced as the host of the tournament final while Inter Miami’s DRV PNK Stadium will host the preliminary matches.

“The announcement of these outstanding venues moves us a step closer to what is sure to be a great Gold Cup this summer, said Concacaf President and FIFA Vice President Victor Montagliani. “It is fitting that in our 60th anniversary year we will use a number of stadiums with a rich history of hosting Concacaf football, while also making history with new venues that will host Gold Cup matches for the very first time.”

“I am also extremely pleased that we have enhanced the Gold Cup format so that all the final group stage games will be played simultaneously. This will add to the competitive intensity of the tournament and provide an even more compelling spectacle for fans. Alongside the introduction of a first ever Gold Cup Prelims and a new format in the knockout stage this is another example of our football first approach at Concacaf.”

Both Austin’s Q2 Stadium and Orlando’s Exploria Stadium will be hosting Gold Cup matches for the first time in their venue’s history. In addition, four other Texas-based stadiums and one Arizona-based venue will also host matches in the competition.

The U.S. Men’s National Team was previously paired with Canada, Martinique and a Winner from Preliminary Round 7 in Group B. Gregg Berhalter’s side will look to earn its first Gold Cup title since 2017 and its first under the head coach.

Here’s a closer look at the venues chosen for hosting duties and groups/tournament schedule:

  • AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX.
  • BBVA Stadium, Houston, TX.
  • Children’s Mercy Park, Kansas City, KS.
  • Cotton Bowl, Dallas, TX.
  • Exploria Stadium, Orlando, FL (first-time host)
  • NRG Stadium, Houston, TX.
  • Q2 Stadium, Austin, TX (first-time host)
  • State Farm Stadium, Glendale, AZ.
  • Toyota Stadium, Frisco, TX.
Group A: Mexico, El Salvador, Curacao and Winner Prelims 9
Group B: USA, Canada, Martinique and Winner Prelims 7
Group C: Costa Rica, Jamaica, Suriname and Winner Prelims 8
Group D: Honduras, Panama, Grenada and Qatar.Quarterfinal #1: Winner Group D vs Second Place Group A
Quarterfinal #4: Winner Group B vs Second Place Group C
Quarterfinal #2: Winner Group A vs Second Place Group D
Quarterfinal #3: Winner Group C vs Second Place Group BSemifinal #1: Winner Quarterfinal #1 vs Winner Quarterfinal #4
Semifinal #2: Winner Quarterfinal #2 vs Winner Quarterfinal #3

Final: Winner Semifinal #1 vs Winner SF #2

Comments

  1. I can’t speak for the other Texas based host cities, but I know most of the fans here in Austin have already been vaxxed (or scheduled for their second shot) to be ready for the club’s home opener on Juneteenth.

    The Gold Cup games will be a couple of weeks after that in July. My hope is that everyone in attendance will have been covered at that point…

    Reply
    • texas is actually poor on vaccination. we have vaccinated ~8.5m of 30m people. and the analysis there neglects self-selection. while generally we’ve been working through the categories eg health workers, elderly, conditions, it’s now open season in a red state and you will start to see the limits of so-called “hesitancy” or “refusal.”

      also gold cup hosting has typically been cynically sorted — mexico gets to play in a friendly site — nad in texas we have typically been a magnet for road tripping mexico fans to come watch el tri. the borders are not closed as some countries have done, so you night need to factor in mexican infection and vaccination rates. i am sure some could spin what i am saying as racial but there is some history of say a UCL game in Italy that helped superspread the virus. it may depend if there are capacity limits.

      Reply
  2. I’m not a fan of holding mass events with crowds while the pandemic is still rolling, but I would particularly question the choice of the indoor Arizona Cardinals stadium. I thought it was at least somewhat thoughtful to have outdoor venues — including Cotton Bowl instead of AT&T, BBVA instead of NRG — and then saw that one.

    Reply
      • i believe it’s 110F in AZ in the summer. just like it will be 95-100F highs for all the texas games. do you think your snap arguments through?

    • It’s a dry heat though. The heat index will probably be lower in Glendale than Houston. None of these places will be fun conditions for soccer in July.

      Reply
    • Texas our numbers could go through the roof and we wouldn’t lock down again. That’s a friendly business climate as opposed to a health driven decision. Our 7 day hospitalizations and deaths are plateaued. So you pick us to ensure the event happens and shift the focus from is it safe/legal to whether teams obey bubble rules and punishing positive tests. Even though our numbers — 2000 cases a day, dozens of deaths each day — would have some countries in lockdown for weeks.

      Reply

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