San Jose, CA -Clint Dempsey (left) earned a hat trick in the USA’s 6-0 win over Honduras on Friday night. March 24,2017.
The 14th edition of the Gold Cup is around the corner, but how much do you know about this regional tournament? Here are some facts about this championship as well as what we should expect of this year tournament.
First, the Gold Cup, which holds this name since 1991, is the CONCACAF regional tournament. This Championship has suffered many changes throughout the years, but since 2007 the tournament has had the same format where twelve member nations of CONCACAF compete for the area’s supremacy.
This championship has been held every two years, and where the United States has been the host country of all the tournaments. Mexico and Canada served as co-host for this event two times and one, respectively. Mexico is the country with the most titles with 7. The USA follows ‘El Tri’ with 5 championships, and Canada finish the list with one title win.
This year’s tournament will be the last one where twelve teams will compete, since it was announced in January of 2017 that 16 nations will compete in the 2019 competition. The champion of this edition will face the 2019 champion to get a spot in the 2021 Confederations Cup. If the same nation wins the two tournaments, then that country will qualify automatically to the cup representing CONCACAF.
The participant nations of the 2017 cup are divided in three groups. Group A has Honduras, Costa Rica, French Guiana, and Canada. USA, Panama, Martinique, and Nicaragua are part of Group B. And Group C has Mexico, El Salvador, Curacao, and Jamaica.
Even though teams such as Costa Rica or Panama will battle hard to get the trophy for the first time for Central America, Mexico is the natural candidate to obtain the title along with the USA. El Tri and the Americans will present alternative squads which will be competitive enough to battle against the small countries that played this tournament.
So from July 7th to the 26th, North America will get the chance to experience a tournament where small teams will try to surprise the giants, and where fans have the opportunity to watch their home countries compete to become the best of the area.
Gold Cup
