To help this thread fit here, let's keep it open to all instances of national teams playing in continental tournaments outside of their Confederation (for now, Australia in the 2021 Copa América and Qatar's tour of the Americas).
An actual draw, what a concept. The versions the year before the World Cup are odd. With it being in the middle of the World Cup Qualification process and basically the same time as the Olympics. Different countries prioritize it differently. It will be good for Qatar to give them competitive matches since they aren't involved in the final round of World Cup qualification for the AFC. Venues haven't been announced but I'd like to see eventually CONCACAF use the Gold Cup in the coming years as to try having Canada/Mexico/USA host it together prior to 2026 to give them a practice run at hosting the tournament together. Especially, now with no Confederations Cup.
The Gold Cup is always in the US for financial reasons. I would like to see the tournament moved around but the issue is there's really no other place where a match like Honduras vs Jamaica is going to draw large crowds unless the host nation is involved in that particular match.
I realize why its in the United States. Nobody is saying otherwise. What I'm suggesting is the 3 host countries for the 2026 World Cup perhaps try hosting the Gold Cup together in the lead up to the World Cup. Give themselves a practice run. Just like in 2026 the bulk of the matches can still be in the United States. Maybe expand it to 24 teams and have those 3 team groups so teams and organizers can get a practice run on what that would be like. Top 2 in each group advance with a 16 team knockout.
The Gold Cup is the best example of CONCACAF grabbing the low-hanging fruit and taking short-term profits over long-term gains. They've been lazy and never developed the tournament the proper way. The things that they've done (U.S. as permanent host, the staged draw to keep the U.S. and Mexico apart, the invitational teams) has delegitimized the tournament and made it predictable. The most embarrassing example of how desperate they are to protect their cash cow (Mexico) was the 2015 tournament, when they were awarded three penalties all in stoppage time in the QF and SF stage. It's actually exposed CONCACAF as a duopoly like OFC was during the Australia-NZ days, and has made the rest of the confederation look secondary in importance. Has it resulted in large crowds? Yes. Does it matter when hardly no one else notices? No. The 2019 AFC Asian Cup in the UAE had an average attendance of 12,600. By comparison, the 2019 Gold Cup had an average attendance of 33,600. The CAF Nations Cup was held in Equatorial Guinea in 2015 and Gabon in 2017. Comparable CONCACAF countries in terms of population and GDP would be Jamaica and Nicaragua. Could you envision CONCACAF having a Central American or Caribbean team hold the Gold Cup on their own? Yet the AFC and CAF continental championships dwarf the Gold Cup in the metrics that matter: prize money, ad revenue, sponsorships, TV viewership, and overall interest. The benefit of rotating the tournament would far outweigh the disadvantages of lower attendance. In terms of development, CONCACAF could use more competitive teams, and hosting the Gold Cup would boost soccer in places where it isn't the primary sport, such as the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Puerto Rico. In terms of interest, creating more uncertainty would certainly help, but it also seems like the large U.S. stadiums don't have the right feel for a regional tournament. They seem too refined to capture the qualities that make CONCACAF appealing. From a television standpoint, there are many things that would better represent CONCACAF: smaller, more intimate stadiums that are a little rough around the edges; the loud and chaotic environments in Central America; the quirkiness of the Caribbean. It should be a celebration that highlights soccer within the region. CONCACAF completely ignores this. Lastly, why would a confederation with 41 members need even one invitational team for a 16-team tournament? CONMEBOL only has 10 members so having two invitational teams for the Copa America makes sense. From my viewpoint, all these things are admissions of weakness by CONCACAF, not positions of strength.
I like alot of what you said. Even Canada and Mexico can't get a sniff at hosting. I completely understand why its in the United States as do most and that is not US Soccer's fault, USMNT fault or anyone but CONCACAF's doing. I always said fine make your money but its an every 2 year tournament it could be rotated every other edition or even co-hosted with the United States every other edition. Or co hosted with the United States the next 15 years and rotated after that. There needs to be long term plan in place. Maybe the partnership with Qatar could assist in developing stadiums and infrastructure in the Caribbean and Central America. This way you can develop smaller nations and still make that money off the United States. For example... 2021 at United States/Mexico 2023 at United States 2025 at United States/Canada/Mexico 2027 at United States 2029 at United States/Central America 2031 at United States 2033 at United States/Caribbean 2035 at United States 2037 at Canada 2039 at United States 2041 at Mexico 2043 at United States 2045 at Central America 2047 at United States 2049 at Caribbean
At the very least they could host the "final four" of the C'CAF Nations League in a country other than the US. But even that got scheduled for Dallas and Houston. Ridiculous.
No one wants to host it other than the USA. You cannot force Confederations to host something they do not want.
You mean other federations within CONCACAF don't want it? It's possible but I don't think it's probable unless you've seen articles about it. The Caribbean hosted the 2007 Cricket World Cup. Yet they can't, or won't, host a regional soccer tournament? Just like FIFA hands out money to every member association on a yearly basis, I'm sure each confederation also gets money to allocate for club and international tournaments. With this money, each confederation probably provides financial and administrative support to the member associations holding the tournaments. Why wouldn't Central American and Caribbean FAs want this extra money and support? Unfortunately, knowing the reputation of CONCACAF FA's, without proper supervision they'd probably have a barebones tournament using a fraction of the money while pocketing the rest. A more likely explanation is that CONCACAF leadership knows that the USSF won't need any financial or administrative assistance, so they can sit back and keep the FIFA cash without doing any work.
Money told me. The Federations almost always come to the unanimous conclusion that more money is guaranteed in the USA and never really fight it much other than a Group in Canada or the Mexico bracket one -time thing. Money talks and it is very loud. There has been some talk about maybe separating some matches like the World baseball classic does in different regions but that may take decades to figure out.
Canada Gold Cup Bid Venues - Vancouver at BC Place - Edmonton at Commonwealth Stadium - Winnipeg at IG Field - Ottawa at TD Place Stadium - Montreal at Saputo Stadium - Toronto at BMO Field Group A and C could be in Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa and Group B and D could be in Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver. Then for the knockout stage each city can host either a quarterfinal or semi final for example. A1 v. B2 at Ottawa C1 v. D2 at Montreal B1 v. A2 at Vancouver D1 v. C2 at Winnipeg QF 1 winner v. QF 2 winner at Toronto QF 3 winner v. QF 4 winner at Edmonton Gold Cup Final at Vancouver That means each city hosts 5 games minimum, 4 group games and 1 knockout game with Vancouver hosting 6 because they get the final. If you win your group you get to stay in your region for the Quarter-Finals and Semi-Finals.
Mexico Gold Cup Bid Venues - Mexico City Estadio Azteca (Club America) - Zapopan Estadio Akron (Chivas) - Puebla City Estadio Cuahtemoc (Puebla) - Guadalupe Estadio BBVA (Monterrey) - Torreon Estadio Corona (Santos Laguna) - Aguascalientes City EstadioVictoria (Necaxa) Group A and C could be in Mexico City, Zapopan and Puebla City and Group B and D could be in Guadalupe, Torreon and Aguascalientes. Then for the knockout stage each city can host either a quarterfinal or semi final for example. A1 v. B2 at Mexico City C1 v. D2 at Puebla City B1 v. A2 at Torreon D1 v. C2 at Aguascalientes QF 1 winner v. QF 2 winner at Zapopan QF 3 winner v. QF 4 winner at Guadalupe Gold Cup Final at Mexico City That means each city hosts 5 games minimum, 4 group games and 1 knockout game with Mexico City hosting 6 because they get the final. If you win your group you get to stay in your region for the Quarter-Finals and Semi-Finals.I took 3 stadiums to north and put them in one region and 3 stadiums to the south and put them in the other.
Aren't the games supposed to be on grass though? If so these would be the options Langford @ Westhills Stadium (plans to switch to grass) Calgary @ ATCO Field Toronto @ BMO Field Montreal @ Saputo Stadium Halifax @ Wanderers Grounds Unlikely that CFL stadiums (Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Hamilton or Ottawa) change turf for a Gold Cup. I don't see Canada hosting solo before the 2030s
For Gold Cup I don't think grass is a requirement. I remember in the past Baltimore, Seattle, Foxboro, Atlanta, Arlington, etc. Hosting without bringing in temporary grass. I don't see anybody but the United States hosting pretty much ever, but it would be nice
It does not speak to me. IT obviously speaks to CONCACAF. He said income was the reason we will not see another country (outside of the USA) host the whole competition in his lifetime. That's all folks.
Qatar have reached the semis of the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup. It would be hilarious (and embarassing for Concacaf) if they end up winning it all.
Not that embarrassing if they beat a USA C team. Very embarrassing if they beat Mexico in front of what could be 70 or 80 K hostile Mexicanos though.
And if they beat Canada in front of a half empty stadium sellout with a lot of "no shows" who get's embarrassed by that other than TV Networks maybe??
Well US has a B squad, and Mexico hasn't been at their best, so who knows. Qatar's defence is poor though.
The specifics of A, B or C squad would quickly be forgotten. My point is about the overall optics of having a guest win your flagship tournament and having an outsider on the winners list for all time. Anybody checking the Gold Cup palmarès in 10 or 20 years would be stupefied by a Qatar entry. The way I see Concacaf already dodged massive bullets in this respect with Brazil and Colombia in the 1996, 2000 and 2003 final. Then it seemed they learned their lesson and stopped inviting guests. Rather than raising the profile these invitations cheapened the competition in my opinion. But now the greed is back, and I for one would find it hilarious if Qatar punishes that greed. In fact, my interest has been raised to the point where I shall record USA-Qatar to watch it in the morning. To an entertaining match!
Well, threat averted. Listen to the collective Concacaf sigh of relief. The US advance to the final thanks to a Zardes goal in the 86th minute. Qatar somehow found a way to lose a match in which they were clearly the higher quality side for long stretches of the game. The turning point of course was the missed penalty by Al Haydos in the 61st minute. Don't think this US team would have done too well chasing a deficit with fast Qatari counters. Why players continue to add a "stutter" to their penalties is beyond me.