Stadia announced for 2019 Gold Cup

MIAMI BEACH, Florida (AP): he Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, and Soldier Field in Chicago are among 15 venues for next year’s CONCACAF Gold Cup, the first edition of the tournament following its expansion from 12 to 16 nations.

The tournament starts in mid-June. Other large venues that will be used include Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina; First Energy Stadium in Cleveland; Sports Authority Field in Denver; University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona; NRG Stadium in Houston; Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee; and Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

Six Major League Soccer stadiums were announced as sites yesterday: Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas; Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey; BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston; Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas; Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles; and Allianz Field in St Paul, Minnesota.

Additional venues in Central America

Tand the Caribbean will be announced later. The defending champions, United States, automatic qualifiers are along with the five other nations in last year’s final round of World Cup qualifiers in North and Central America and the Caribbean: Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, and Trinidad and Tobago. Ten additional nations will be determined in CONCACAF Nations League qualifiers to be played from September through March.

CONCACAF started the Gold Cup in 1991, and 11 of the 14 tournaments have been played entirely in the US. Two have been shared by the US and Mexico (1993 and 2003) and one by the US and Canada (2015).

Mexico has seven titles and the US, six. Canada won in 2000.

The 2019 tournament will be the first competitive matches for the next US coach. Bruce Arena quit in October after the US failed to qualify for this year’s World Cup, and Dave Sarachan remains interim coach.