The Albany Gazette - CONCACAF chooses West Coast venues for Gold Cup

The 16-team Gold Cup, for national teams in North and Central America and the Caribbean and FIFA's 32-team Club World Cup, will be held during the same window.

The Gold Cup, which comes one year before the World Cup itself is held in the United States, Canada and Mexico, will feature three venues that have not previously been used for the tournament and a mix of NFL and MLS stadia.

BC Place in Vancouver, PayPal Park in San Jose California and U.S Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, will all feature Gold Cup games for the first time.

"As the last official centralized tournament in our region before the FIFA World Cup 2026, this Gold Cup will provide all participating federations with a great challenge and will be critical to their preparations for World Cup qualification and for participation in the FIFA World Cup itself," said CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani.

"The tournament will create a tremendous opportunity for fans across the confederation to engage with the sport at such a pivotal time for its development," he added.

Five of the venues will also host World Cup games in 2026 -- AT&T Stadium in Dallas, BC Place, Levi's Stadium near San Francisco, NRG Stadium in Houston and SoFi Stadium near Los Angeles.

Other venues include Austin, Carson, California, Shell Energy Stadium in Houston, Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Diego and St.Louis.

Mexico are the defending champions in the tournament which will start on June 14 and conclude with the final on July 6.

The official draw for the tournament will be held on April 10.

Qualification for the Gold Cup is secured through the current edition of the CONCACAF Nations League.

(K.Lee--TAG)