The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) just confirmed that Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, is one of 15 venues across 13 U.S. metropolitan cities that will welcome the 2019 edition of the Concacaf Gold Cup, to be played for the first time in an expanded format with 16 participating nations.
“We’re excited to welcome the Concacaf Gold Cup back to Bank of America Stadium and Charlotte for the third time,” says CRVA CEO Tom Murray. “International soccer matches like the Gold Cup create additional visitor spending that is important to our overall visitor economy, and strategic events like this generate invaluable national and international media exposure opportunities for the city.”
The announcement of the U.S. venues marks the first step in kicking off the region-wide soccer event, to be played in the summer of 2019, which has expanded to include a record 16 Concacaf Member Associations. In addition to the announced U.S. venues, 2019 Gold Cup matches will also be played in Central America and the Caribbean for the first time in the tournament’s 15 editions. These markets and venues will be announced in coming months.
The Gold Cup is anticipated every two years by fans across the region, as a true celebration of the vibrant culture and world class football that make up our wonderful and diverse One Concacaf region,” said Concacaf President Victor Montagliani. “The venues selected thus far offer a mix of soccer history as well as a taste of the future of the sport in the U.S., and we are excited to work with the local host committees to bring the game to fans all over the U.S. With the upcoming selection of additional venues in the Caribbean and Central America, the Gold Cup becomes a regional event on even more levels, as Concacaf continues to focus on making football accessible to more teams, players and fans.”
Taking place every two years, the Concacaf Gold Cup is the region’s national team championship. Featuring some of the hemisphere’s top players, the tournament crowns the champion from North and Central America and the Caribbean. Drawing large crowds and millions of television viewers across the region, the Gold Cup is a celebration of soccer, sportsmanship and culture.
By adding four more teams and exploring the possibility of new host nations, the historic 15th edition of the Concacaf Gold Cup will set highs for number of participating Concacaf Member Associations, providing access to the highest level of international football for 16 teams and for fans from a wider representation of the Concacaf region
Concacaf Gold Cup games have been held in Charlotte in 2011 and 2015, featuring teams like Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico, Cuba, Guatemala, and Trinidad and Tobago and garnering more than 50,000 attendees at each game.
The six national teams that participated in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Hexagonal qualifier round—Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States—are automatically qualified to the 2019 Gold Cup. The 10 additional participating nations in the 2019 Gold Cup will qualify through Concacaf Nations League Qualifiers, to be played on FIFA match dates in September, October and November of 2018 and March of 2019.
More information, including groups and the schedule for the 2019 tournament, will be announced soon.