Concacaf Gold Cup Final to be played in Las Vegas on August 1st

Today Concacaf announced the bracket for the 2021 Gold Cup, and the 16-team tournament will begin on July 10th while ending in with the final at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on April 1st.

13 teams are set for the tournament, 12 of which are members of Concacaf. Eight teams were the winners and runners-up from each of the four groups in the Concacaf Nations League A, and the four winners from each of the four groups in Concacaf Nations League B are automatically through.

The nation of Qatar, which is the host of the 2022 World Cup and thus won’t play a qualifying schedule, is the 13th nation as they look for as many competitive international matches as possible in the run up to the tournament.

The last three teams from CONCACAF will qualify via a 12-team mini-tournament in Miami at Inter Miami’s new stadium from July 2-6.

Group A: Mexico, El Salvador, Curacao, and Prelim Winner
Group B: USA, Canada, Martinique, and Prelim Winner
Group C: Costa Rica, Jamaica, Suriname, and Prelim Winner
Group D: Honduras, Panama, Grenada, and Qatar

The question now becomes how much of the USA’s true first team, many of whom play professionally in Europe’s top leagues, will choose to play in the event. The Gold Cup is often seen as a complementary tournament for the elite players, who skip the event in search of rest or chasing bigger silverware. Will we see Christian Pulisic, Sergiño Dest, and the rest of the young talent for this tournament?