FIFA should but that would be a lot of votes for Infantino to alienate. Hence why he’s never going to.
Re: Qualifiying down south. For all the talk of how hard road games are in CONCACAF, they're no slouch in CONMEBOL either. Besides Brazil and Argentina just being tough anywhere, but especially tough at home, you have Bolivia and Ecuador at high altitude, and even Colombia and Peru are no walks in the park.
On the odd chance the new coach gets hired before the gold cup, whoever that person is might want an opportunity to work with the first team for a longer window before the really, really important qualifiers start in the fall. But if it's still Hudson then I would have to think it would be a B team. But then there's always a chance that Concacaf changes either seeding or the format for the next NL round. Until we know how that competition (and how Copa qualifying) will work, it's hard to know who or how much time off to give this summer.
I think the thing with the Gold Cup 1) it's likely our A team will go the Nations League Finals and won't to play in both, 2) while it's not as bad as in 2021 as it doesn't start as late, there's still some overlap with European preseason, and 3) after a long season, plus a midseason World Cup, some guys are just going to need a break.
With three CONCACAF teams hosting instead of the usual one is there a chance they are involved in qualifying? It would seem CONCACAF would be interested in their teams doing well at the WC here in N America so not only would it help the three hosts but also any of the other countries that make the WC. Of course since they are already qualified only the other teams would use the points to determine who also makes it but having to get results against possibly the top three teams at the moment would greatly prepare the other teams if they make it.
So during concacaf qualifying, the US would be included in the final group like the Qataris were in a European qualifying group last time? Maybe/ Though I think the US's preference would be to try to be included in a European qualifying group, if they could swing it, to cut down on travel time for Euro-based players. (?)
I think that the strong preference should be to rest players, but this would be complicated if the new hire is in place in time for the gold cup. Even with the weird calendar last cycle, Berhalter at least had some time to work with the team before the qualifying last time. The time frame of the qualifying process is much shorter for the Copa America. (Possibly as few as four games, but then, who knows. Concacaf still has not laid out the process for qualifying other than to say it's through the 23-24.) It's also coming much sooner in the cycle. I'm probably overthinking CA qualifying. I just think it's a huge opportunity and the qualfying process (depending on what it is) might put a great deal of pressure on a game or two this fall.
Well we don't know the format, but I'm not that concerned about our A team being able to get in or not. In the end it'll likely come down to whether we can beat a Honduras, El Salvador, or Jamaica at home, which is something we've consistently been able to do over the last three decades. And even with a new coach, our core group has now spent alot of time playing together and has gone to a World Cup together. So they aren't starting from scratch.
If that's possible it would be great. Especially great if CONCACAF won't let us play in our qualifiers. I suspect though that it will be all three in or out. So could all three go to Euro qualifiers? I doubt and suspect a lot of money was involved in Qatar being able to participate.
I don't think it necessarily cost Qatar that much, beyond the expense of maintaining a training base in Hungary. Qatar didn't appear in the standings. No matter what, there is always at least one European group with an odd number of teams, which means one team in that group is available for a friendly on every WCQ date. Essentially this boiled down to simulating a UEFA qualifying campaign by scheduling a friendly against the bye team in a European group on every matchday.
Indeed. I'd love to know what kind of Qatar money lined CONCACAF pockets for them to get invited to the Gold Cup. Cuz we'd stopped inviting guest teams. I don't really know what the rationale would be for inviting the USMNT to the UEFA Championships. I get it. The USMNT would bring in some revenue and fans to the event...............but also wouldn't be a threat to win the thing. I just don't think the UEFA Championships need it. Unless nations drop out unexpectedly (maybe they support Russia in the war or something), I don't see that happening. Copa is a little different. They love the North American markets from a financial perspective. In theory, the USMNT and Mexico are a threat to advance deep in the Copa played in the US as well. In case folks forgot, it 2016...........both the US and Mexico won their groups. Mexico were eliminated by that powerhouse Chile team that won back-to-back Copas. The US was knocked out in the semi by Messi & Argentina. Costa Rica beat Colombia & drew with Paraguay. Panama beat Bolivia. The CONCACAF participants in the Copa aren't "also-ran" minnows. They do damage. Even Haiti gave Peru all they could handle before succumbing 1-0. And this version of CONCACAF is stronger than 2016.............now that Canada has joined our ranks. It would be an upset for a CONCACAF nation to win in 2024, but it also wouldn't be a total shock. Messi talked recently about how Argentina suffered the most at the World Cup against Mexico.
It's all via sponsorship money. It's why you see so many CONCACAF events that are sponsored by Qatar Airways.
We may not just have the Copa America perhaps Yon de Luisa says that in summer 2025 there will be an event organized by Concacaf with FIFA, serving to test different World Cup sites.Confederations Cup strikes back?— Jon Arnold (@ArnoldcommaJon) January 31, 2023
There are now rumors of an expanded Gold Cup in 2025 with 8 guest national teams from other confederations. To be hosted by Canada, the US, and Mexico. https://www.record.com.mx/columnist...n-copa-oro-2025-con-invitados-de-primer-mundo
¡LO QUE SE VIENE EN LA COPA ORO! 🤩🏆De acuerdo con @medranoazteca ; México, Estados Unidos y Canadá buscarán que la Copa Oro 2025 sea especial con este formato.¿Qué te parece?https://t.co/TTVCcvtEun pic.twitter.com/XuZZ8phF49— DIARIO RÉCORD (@record_mexico) February 2, 2023 May be same source, but looks fun.
That 2025 Gold Cup comes to fruition, and we can stop worrying if Olympics or Copa America is the best prep for 2026. Also, if this comes good, I think we should all admit US Soccer getting something like that on the table in the year running up to the World Cup is some pretty good work. Should be no problem to get the full squad together, top competition and as close to the World Cup as could be reasonable. Prety damn nice.
Yup. Particularly important with the lack of WCQers (and for Mexico/Canada too). Gotta somehow create games against challenging opponents that actually matter. And they're working on it. We need 'em all. Olympics, Gold Cup, Copa America. Keep building even more opportunities too. I'd be out there accepting invitations to the PanAm games, Toulon tournament, Milk Cup................EVERYTHING.
This would be good preparation. At the same time, the fact that this is being considered for a confederation's championship tournament really highlights how shortsighted it was for FIFA to scrap the Confederations Cup. FIFA hastily made the Arab Cup a FIFA tournament just to give Qatar a dry run, and now we have some unprecedented improvisation to create a Confederations Cup substitute for 2025. If the Confederations Cup doesn't return, I have to wonder what's going to happen in 2029.
why exactly did they get rid of the Confederations Cup anyway? Seemed like a perfectly good and logical competition and a good way to prep the host for the WC.
Supposedly to make room in the calendar for a big Club World Cup every four years. Which hasn't happened yet, and I have serious doubts about it ever happening because of the serious logistical hurdles it faces. (Not to mention that it would be weird to see clubs competing in a tournament three years after they qualify for it.)
That’s a lot of high quality preparatory competition that reaches down into the U-20 level guys’ pool and allows for an extremely broad and deep set of evaluation tools to allow the best to rise to the top.