Atlanta's Georgia Dome has been selected as the host site for two CONCACAF Gold Cup soccer quarterfinal games to be played on July 20. The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) made the announcement on Wednesday as part of the overall schedule and as the groups were selected. Chicago's Soldier Field was announced as the host site of the final that will be played on July 28.
The CONCACAF Gold Cup is the premier national soccer tournament played in the region which includes North and Central America and the Caribbean. To be granted two quarterfinal games is a considerable honor and testimony to Atlanta's commitment to the tournament.
Unfortunately for US Soccer fans it is unlikely that USA will play in Atlanta unless they end up as the third placed team in Group C. On the other hand Mexico and Canada, will almost certainly have to come through Atlanta if they want to advance to the semifinals. The two best teams from Group A will likely face weaker teams from Group B in Georgia on July 20.
"We look forward to a successful tournament and an exciting 2013 Gold Cup final on July 28, right here at Soldier Field," said CONCACAF President, Jeffrey Webb. "We also expect yet another competition fueled by passionate fans brought together in a celebration that will hopefully inspire a whole new generation of players."
Mexico will anchor Group A, which begins play on July 7, in a double header that kicks off with Canada taking on Martinique at 5:30pm EST the Rose Bowl. Honduras will lead Group B the following day, facing Haiti at Red Bull Arena on July 8, with El Salvador and Trinidad & Tobago facing off earlier in the evening. The United States will play the following night, July 9 in Portland's JELD-WEN Field against Belize in Group C, which also will include Costa Rica vs. Cuba in the first match of the doubleheader.
The other quarterfinal site is Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium. Both semifinals will be played at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX on Wednesday, July 24.
With a mix of historic venues and brand new state of the art soccer facilities that average 57,000 spectators, the 2013 edition of the Gold Cup promises to provide fans both in stadium and at home with unforgettable atmospheres. In 2011, the tournament drew more than 600,000 fans throughout 13 match-days, including nine sell-outs. Taking place every two years, the Gold Cup has established itself as the region's most popular national team tournament, routinely drawing capacity crowds and millions of television viewers across the region. It features the confederation's best players from the top 12 nations.
Tickets to all Gold Cup matches, an official FIFA calendar tournament, will be available to the general public starting on Thursday, March 21 at 10:00 a.m. (local time in all markets) by visiting www.GoldCup.org. Special pre-sales will be available starting tomorrow, Thursday, March 14 at many of the participating Gold Cup cities.
The groups for the tournament are as follows:
2013 CONCACAF GOLD CUP™
GROUP A: Mexico, Panama, Canada, Martinique
GROUP B: Honduras, El Salvador, Trinidad & Tobago, Haiti
GROUP C: USA, Costa Rica, Belize, Cuba
The full schedule is presented below:
SCHEDULE
(local time followed by EDT time)
First Round
Sunday, July 7 - Rose Bowl (Pasadena, CA)
Canada vs. Martinique, 2:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. EDT)
Mexico vs. Panama, 5:00 p.m. (8:00 p.m. EDT)
Monday, July 8 - Red Bull Arena (Harrison, NJ)
El Salvador vs. Trinidad & Tobago, 7 p.m. (7 p.m. EDT)
Haiti vs. Honduras, 9:30 p.m. (9:30 p.m. EDT)
Tuesday, July 9 - JELD-WEN Field (Portland, OR)
Costa Rica vs. Cuba, 5:30 p.m. (8:30 p.m. EDT)
Belize vs. USA, 8 p.m. (11 p.m. EDT)
Thursday, July 11 - CenturyLink Field (Seattle, WA)
Panama vs. Martinique, 5:30 p.m. (8:30 p.m. EDT)
Mexico vs. Canada, 8 p.m. (11 p.m. EDT)
Friday, July 12 - Sun Life Stadium (Miami, FL)
Trinidad & Tobago vs. Haiti, 7 p.m. (7 p.m. EDT)
Honduras vs. El Salvador, 9:30 p.m. (9:30 p.m. EDT)
Saturday, July 13 - Rio Tinto Stadium (Salt Lake City, UT)
USA vs. Cuba, 1:30 p.m. (4:30 p.m. EDT)
Costa Rica vs. Belize, 4:00 p.m. (6:00 p.m. EDT)
Sunday, July 14 - Sports Authority Field at Mile High (Denver, CO)
Martinique vs. Mexico, 2 p.m. (4 p.m. EDT)
Panama vs. Canada, 4:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. EDT)
Monday, July 15 - BBVA Compass Stadium (Houston, TX)
El Salvador vs. Haiti, 6 p.m. (7 p.m. EDT)
Honduras vs. Trinidad & Tobago, 8:30 p.m. (9:30 p.m. EDT)
Tuesday, July 16 - Rentschler Field (Hartford, CT)
Cuba vs. Belize, 5:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. EDT)
USA vs. Costa Rica, 8 p.m. (8 p.m. EDT)
Quarterfinals
Saturday, July 20 - Georgia Dome (Atlanta, GA)
Group A runner-up vs. Group B runner-up, TBD (x)
Group A winner vs. Group B/C third-place, TBD (x)
x-matches scheduled for 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. local (3 p.m. and 6 p.m. EDT) with order TBD
Sunday, July 21 - M&T Bank Stadium (Baltimore, MD)
Group B winner vs. Group C runner-up, TBD (y)
Group C winner vs. Group A/B third place, TBD (y)
y-matches scheduled for 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. local (4 p.m. and 7 p.m. EDT) with order TBD
Semifinals
Wednesday, July 24 - Cowboys Stadium (Arlington, TX)
X quarterfinal winners, TBD (z)
Y quarterfinal winners, TBD (z)
z-matches scheduled for 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. local (7 p.m. and 10 p.m. EDT) with order TBD
Final
Sunday, July 28- Soldier Field (Chicago, IL)
Semifinal winners, 3 p.m. (4 p.m. EDT)
Comments