2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup Draw: USMNT, Mexico groups revealed
The United States, Mexico and most of the other nations that will compete in the 16-team 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup in the U.S. and Canada this summer learned their group stage opponents at Friday's draw in Los Angeles. The final three entries in the biennial regional championship, which will run from June 24-July 16, will be determined by a preliminary round of games just before the tournament proper kicks off.
The co-host and defending champion U.S. was paired Friday with Jamaica, Nicaragua and a team to be determined later in Group A. Mexico, which won the tournament in 2019 and has a record eight Gold Cup titles to the Americans seven, was joined by Haiti, Honduras and guest nation Qatar in Group B — perhaps the strongest of the four groups.
The competition features 15 members of CONCACAF — the regional governing body for North America, Central America and the Caribbean — plus Qatar, the 2022 FIFA World Cup host. Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico and the U.S. were the region's four representatives at the 2022 World Cup. Only the Americans advanced to the knockout stage.
Costa Rica is in Group C with El Salvador, Panama and a foe TBD. Panama recently stunned Costa Rica in CONCACAF Nations League play, beating the Ticos to advance to the semifinals of that event with Canada, Mexico and the USMNT. With the Nations League final four slated for mid-June in Las Vegas, teams competing in both events are expected to rotate their rosters for the Gold Cup. They could even use almost entirely different squads, as the U.S. did in winning both trophies two years ago.
Qatar was also an invitee at the 2021 Gold Cup. The Qataris, who in November became the only World Cup host to lose all three of its first-round games, reached the semifinals of the 2021 Gold Cup before being eliminated by the eventual champion U.S.
Co-host Canada is staging Gold Cup games for second time ever and first since 2015. Les Rouges will play Cuba, Guatemala and another side TBD in Group D this summer. Twelve teams are vying for the three still-open spots, including 2006 World Cup participant Trinidad and Tobago. The preliminary round is scheduled for June 16-20.
Jamaica famously eliminated the USMNT in the Gold Cup semifinals in 2015. Two years later, they knocked out Mexico but lost to the U.S. in the final. The Americans only previous meeting with Nicaragua also came in the group stage of the Gold Cup, a 3-0 victory in 2017.
CONCACAF earlier in the week announced the 14 venues that will stage games at the 2023 Gold Cup. Thirteen stadiums are in the U.S., with Toronto's BMO Field the lone Canadian rep. The final will be played at 70,000-seat SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, the site of Friday's draw.
The full group stage schedule will be announced in the days ahead.
Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.
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