June 1 – LigaMX’s Club Leon, pushing for their first Concacaf Champions League title in a competition traditionally dominated by Mexican clubs, will take a one goal lead over LAFC to Los Angeles this Sunday.
May 31 – Anthony Hudson has suddenly quit as interim head coach of the USA men’s national side, just two weeks before he was to lead them in the CONCACAF Nations League semi-finals.
SoFi Stadium, venue for the 2023 Gold Cup finals.
Perhaps the most spectacular of the US’s mega stadiums, the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, with its wrap-around video screen, will host the final of the Gold Cup. It is the first time the Gold Cup has visited the SoFi and the stadium’s first major soccer showpiece final.
The SoFi will also be a host venue for the 2026 World Cup and the venue for the finals of the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
The 2023 Gold Cup is heading to Las Vegas, the self-proclaimed entertainment capital of the world, for the second consecutive time in the city and in one of the shiniest and newest stadium facilities in the US.
Located adjacent to the world-famous Las Vegas Strip, Allegiant Stadium is a 65,000 capacity venue that began construction in November 2017 and was completed at a cost of $1.9 billion in July 2020.
While Las Vegas’ soccer ambition was too slow to apply to be a World Cup 2026 venue,
Snapdragon Stadium
First time Gold Cup host
Initially known in the planning stage as the Aztec Stadium, the 35,000 capacity Snapdragon Stadium is an outdoor facility located on the campus of San Diego State University.
Following the departure of the NFL’s Chargers, focus began on building a new stadium for the university’s American Football team the Aztecs that was modern.
The stadium broke ground in August 2020 and opened two years later in August 2022.
Quarterfinals venue in 2023, hosts in 2009, 2011, 2013, 2017, and 2021. Capacity of 80,000 to 105,000.
Located in the west of Dallas in the city of Arlington, the 105,000 maximum capacity AT&T stadium is the largest domed structure in the world and one of the biggest sports stadia. Costing $1.2 billion to build, the continually evolving stadium is a facility like no other. It has more than 300 suites, numerous club facilities,
Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina
Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte North Carolina is a 74,867-seat stadium is located on 33 acres and is the home of the Carolina Panthers in the NFL and Charlotte FC in the MLS.
The stadium opened in 1996 as Ericsson Stadium, before Charlotte-based Bank of America bought the naming rights under a 20-25-year agreement at $140 million.
When Charlotte FC became the 30th MLS franchise in 2019 the stadium was announced as its home venue.
BMO Field, Toronto, Canada
The Gold Cup returns to Canada and the BMO Field, Toronto, for the second time. The last time the stadium hosted Gold Cup was a double header in 2015.
A football-specific outdoor stadium located at Exhibition Place in Toronto, the stadium is the home of Toronto FC who play in the MLS and Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football league.
Stadium capacity is currently about 28,000 but can be expanded to 40,000.
CityPark, St Louis, Missouri
This 22,423-seat soccer-specific stadium was only completed in November 2022.
It is the home of St Louis City SC that made its MLS debut in March 2023, beating Charlotte FC 3-1.
The stadium is located in the Downtown West district and next to Union Station.
The stadium has a grass pitch 12m below street level, surrounded by two tiers of seating totaling 22,423 seats – an additional 2,500 seats can be added.
DRV PNK Stadium, Fort Lauderdale, FL (Prelims host 2021. 18,000 capacity)
DRV PNK Stadium (pronounced as Drive Pink Stadium) is the home of Inter Miami CF Stadium in Fort Lauderdale and built on the site of the former Lockhart Stadium which was the home of the now disbanded MLS team Fort Lauderdale Strikers.
The 18,000 soccer-specific stadium is the interim home of MLS franchise Inter Miami CF which is now in its third season as well as its USL League One reserve team Fort Lauderdale CF.
May 24 – The El Salvadorian football federation (FESFUT) has moved quickly to sanction the Alianza club after the crowd surge that crushed fans causing 12 deaths and more than 500 others needing medical attention.
What to expect
The US were the strongest of the four nations in Las Vegas in the CONCACAF Nations League beating Mexico 3-0 in the first semi-final and Canada 1-0 in the final with an exciting brand of football driven by a young team of extremely talented players who visibly grew in confidence. They come into the Gold Cup having dropped the bulk of that squad and are relying more on the MLS and LigaMX players.
What to expect
Mexico come into the tournament with a win, having beaten Panama 1-0 in the third place play-off at the Nations League finals a week ago. But Mexican fans demand more and so does a federation in presidential flux. With the US having made wholesale changes this Mexican team should be good enough to go all the way and they will have packed stadia driving them on. However, they are in the group of death with a fast improving Honduras with all their stars fit,
What to expect
Canada on their day can be the most exciting football team in the region going forward. They will be anxious to put the disappointing Nations League final loss behind them as well as three losses at the Qatar 2022 World Cup – they gained prose for their performance in Qatar, but praise doesn’t win games. The key thing for the Canadians is not losing games that they should win,
What to expect
Honduras are making their 16th appearance at the Gold Cup only having missed one final in 2002. They made the final in 2002 and have been semi-finalists in 2009, 2011 and 2013. They are a very proud footballing nation and have a strong and vocal supporter base in the US that expects their team to be better than they have shown in recent years. With the changing of the old guard this could be their time but the are in the group of death with Gold Cup royalty,