2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup

2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup
Copa Oro de la CONCACAF 2025 (Spanish)
Tournament details
DatesJune 14 - July 6
Teams24 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)TBA (in TBA host cities)
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International football competition

The 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup will be the 18th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's soccer championship of the North, Central American and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF. The tournament will be played from June 14 to July 6, 2025 mainly on the west coast of the United States in order to avoid scheduling conflicts with the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup which will be held around the same time as the Gold Cup in the United States as well to make the Club World Cup is closer to European broadcasters and viewers.[1][2]

Mexico is the defending champion, having won its record-extending 9th title in 2023 after defeating Panama 1–0 in the final on July 16 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.[3]

Teams

Qualification

In February 2023, CONCACAF announced that the 2024–25 CONCACAF Nations League will serve as qualification for the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup.[4][5]

There has been much speculation regarding a potential expansion of the tournament, consisting of invitations to nations in Asia (AFC), Africa (CAF), South America (CONMEBOL), and Europe (UEFA). The main goal of this expansion would be to increase competition for North American teams such as the hosts Mexico, Canada, and the United States especially due to the fact they have automatically qualified for the upcoming World Cup and will not play any qualifiers.[6][7][8] Nations from Africa (CAF) such as Egypt and Senegal are rumored to be invited, while CONCACAF looks to invite Uruguay and Colombia from South America (CONMEBOL), Japan and South Korea from Asia (AFC), along with powerhouses France and Spain from Europe (UEFA).[9][10] These are merely speculation as CONCACAF has yet to confirm anything for certain as there are still multiple aspects to look at. For instance, due to the expansion of this edition looking to increase competition, CONCACAF will want to ensure the invited nations send their top senior squads. Due to the pedigree of nations from Europe and South America in particular, some may not view the Gold Cup as a top-tier competition and may send a reserve or youth side to prevent injury or fatigue to their better players with the 2026 FIFA World Cup on the horizon. However, some sides may also see the Gold Cup as a wonderful opportunity as it is being played in North America, preparing them for the next World Cup and sending their senior squads.

All 41 member associations of CONCACAF will participate in the 2024–25 CONCACAF Nations League. The quarterfinal winners of 2024–25 CONCACAF Nations League A will automatically qualify for the Gold Cup. The third and fourth-placed teams in League A will qualify for the Gold Cup Preliminary Round that will take place in June 2025 while the fifth and sixth-placed teams of each group will advance to the play-in round where they will face the top 4 teams in the League C for the last 4 slots in the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup qualification.[11] The winners of Groups A, B, C, and D in 2024–25 CONCACAF Nations League B will automatically qualify for the Gold Cup. The top two second-place finishers will qualify for the Gold Cup Preliminary Round. Each group winner in 2024–25 CONCACAF Nations League C will advance to the play-in round while the best-ranked runner-up from all three groups will also go to the play-in round.[12] At least eight different nations from CONCACAF will be confirmed to compete in the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup from both the 2024–25 CONCACAF Nations League A (4) and 2024–25 CONCACAF Nations League B (4) by November 19, 2024.

Host selection

The host for the 2025 Gold Cup has yet to be confirmed. Potential candidates include:

It has been speculated that all sixteen venues confirmed to be in use for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup will be integrated in this tournament as a dress rehearsal for the World Cup the following year. Therefore, all three host nations (the United States, Mexico, and Canada) are likely to be included in this expanded format of the competition.[13][8]

If the proposal listed above doesn't work out, it is extremely likely that the United States will solely host the edition (possibly with the inclusion of either Mexico and Canada) as they have hosted all 17 editions of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, with 12 of those being the sole host.[13][14]

Marketing

Broadcasting rights

Territory Broadcast Ref.
United States Fox Sports (English)
TUDN (Spanish) 		[15][16]
Mexico TUDN [16]
Canada OneSoccer [17]
Caribbean ESPN [18]
Central America ESPN [18]
South America ESPN [18]

References

  1. ^ "FIFA Council appoints Chile and Poland as hosts of FIFA youth competitions". FIFA. December 17, 2023. Retrieved December 17, 2023.
  2. ^ Cardenas, Felipe; Sheldon, Dan. "Club World Cup set for U.S. east coast, Gold Cup on west". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
  3. ^ "Mexico 1-0 Panama (Jul 16, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
  4. ^ "CONCACAF announces formats for men's national team competitions for the 2023–2026 cycle". CONCACAF. February 28, 2023. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  5. ^ "Concacaf confirms details for fourth edition of Concacaf Nations League". Miami, FL: CONCACAF. April 19, 2024. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
  6. ^ Wine II, Donald (February 2, 2023). "Report: 2025 Gold Cup to expand to 24 teams". Stars and Stripes FC. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
  7. ^ "Who are the possible invitees of the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup?". Bolavip US. July 31, 2024. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
  8. ^ a b Olé, Diario Deportivo (July 29, 2024). "Plan Copa Oro 2025: el torneo con selecciones invitadas, incluidas dos de Conmebol". Olé USA (in Spanish). Retrieved August 2, 2024.
  9. ^ Ehab, Yassin (August 2, 2024). "Report: Egypt to be invited to the 2025 Gold Cup". KingFut. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
  10. ^ "Who are the possible invitees of the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup?". Bolavip US. July 31, 2024. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
  11. ^ "Concacaf announces formats for men's national team competitions for the 2023-2026 cycle". CONCACAF. February 28, 2023. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
  12. ^ "Schedule & Results | CNL". CONCACAF. March 8, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
  13. ^ a b "Gold Cup and Club World Cup to divide and conquer US in 2025". World Soccer Talk. January 19, 2024. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
  14. ^ B, Liam. "CONCACAF Gold Cup: Why the Tournament Should Be Held Somewhere Else". Bleacher Report. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
  15. ^ "Fox to televise 2021 and 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cups". USA TODAY. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
  16. ^ a b "Concacaf and TelevisaUnivision Agree to Multi-Year Media Rights Partnership". CONCACAF. May 23, 2022. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
  17. ^ "Canadian Soccer Business (CSB) – A New Sports Enterprise Now Represents Premier Soccer Properties in Canada | Canada Soccer". August 6, 2020. Archived from the original on August 6, 2020. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
  18. ^ a b c Staff, S. V. G. (February 20, 2024). "ESPN Reaches Agreement with CONCACAF for W Gold Cup 2024". Sports Video Group. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
  • CONCACAF Gold Cup Official Website
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