News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Oct. 2, 2020: Soccer execs in the Caribbean and the Americas are simply looking ahead to summer 2021 and Gold Cup action.
The Confederation of North American and Caribbean Football Association Football held its first draw for next summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup this week with a live TV event, rather than its past practice of announcing the group stage matchups.
Concacaf President Victor Montagliani, Concacaf’s Director of Development and former Grenada international star Jason Roberts, former Honduras national team star Wilson Palacios and a number of national team head coaches are counting down to the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup!
“I know that many communities in our region are going through challenging times and the thoughts of everyone at Concacaf are with them. I hope tonight’s draw provided some anticipation for the fans, a chance to remember great Gold Cup moments of the past and to talk about football with friends and family,” said Montagliani, who also announced the introduction of ‘the Prelims’ this year.
Set to begin on July 2, 2021, the Preliminary Round will include 12 Concacaf Member Associations competing for the final three spots in the 16-team Group Stage. For the two-round Prelims, the participating national teams have been divided into six matchups and will play as follows:
Round One
Matchup #1: Haiti vs St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Matchup #2: Guatemala vs Guyana
Matchup #3: Trinidad and Tobago vs Monserrat
Matchup #4: Cuba vs French Guiana
Matchup #5: Guadeloupe vs Bahamas
Matchup #6: Bermuda vs Barbados
Round Two
Matchup #7: Winner Matchup #1 vs Winner Matchup #6
Matchup #8: Winner Matchup #2 vs Winner Matchup #5
Matchup #9: Winner Matchup #3 vs Winner Matchup #4
The Group Stage of the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup will kick off on July 10, 2021. The 12 Concacaf national teams, which qualified directly through their performances in the Concacaf Nations League group stage, the guest participant, AFC Asian Cup Champions Qatar, and the three Prelims winners have been divided into four groups and will play as follows:
Group A: Mexico, El Salvador, Curacao and Winner Prelims 9
Group B: USA, Canada, Martinique and Winner Prelims 7
Group C: Costa Rica, Jamaica, Suriname and Winner Prelims 8
Group D: Honduras, Panama, Grenada and Qatar.
The Knockout Stage, to be played among the top two finishers in each group, will for the first time in Gold Cup history see teams on opposite sides of the bracket meet from the quarterfinals onwards. In previous editions, teams have only competed against opponents on the same side of the bracket until the Final.
Trinidad & Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago has been drawn in the Prelims as planned. However, they will only participate in the competition if the suspension imposed on the TTFA is lifted by FIFA by 5:00 pm ET on December 18, 2020. If the suspension imposed on the TTFA is not lifted by FIFA by 5:00 pm ET on December 18, 2020, Trinidad and Tobago will be replaced in the Gold Cup Prelims by the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association as the next highest ranked team based on their 2019 Concacaf Nations League performance.
SCHEDULE
The Preliminary Round and Round of 16 matches of the 2020 Scotiabank Concacaf League is scheduled as follows (in ET and home club listed first):
Tuesday, October 20, 2020
20:00 Arcahaie FC (HAI) vs Verdes FC (BLZ)
22:00 CD FAS (SLV) vs Managua FC (NCA)
Wednesday, October 21, 2020
20:00 CA Independiente (PAN) vs Antigua GFC (GUA)
22:00 LD Alajuelense (CRC) vs Cibao FC (DOM)
Thursday, October 22, 2020
20:00 CD Municipal Limeño (SLV) vs Forge FC (CAN)
22:00 FC Motagua (HON) vs Comunicaciones FC (GUA)
The Round of 16 schedule is as follows (in ET and home club listed first):
Tuesday, November 3, 2020
18:00 Tauro FC (PAN) vs CD Municipal Limeño (SLV) or Forge FC (CAN)
20:15 San Francisco FC (PAN) vs LD Alajuelense (CRC) or Cibao FC (DOM)
22:30 CD Marathon (HON) vs CA Independiente (PAN) or Antigua GFC (GUA)
Wednesday, November 4, 2020
20:00 Deportivo Saprissa (CRC) vs CSD Municipal (GUA)
22:00 Alianza FC (SLV) vs FC Motagua (HON) or Comunicaciones FC (GUA)
Thursday, November 5, 2020
18:00 Waterhouse FC (JAM) vs Arcahaie FC (HAI) or Verdes FC (BLZ)
20:15 CS Herediano (CRC) vs Real Esteli FC (NCA)
22:30 CD Olimpia (HON) vs CD FAS (SLV) or Managua FC (NCA)
The schedule for the all other rounds of the competition is as follows:
December 2020
1-3: Quarterfinals (first leg)
8-10: Quarterfinals (second leg)
January 2021
5-7: Semifinals (first leg)
12-14 Semifinals (second leg)
19-21: Final (first leg)
26-28: Final (second leg)
In addition to qualifying its champion to the Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League, the tournament qualifies a further five teams. At the end of the Concacaf League, the champion and the next five best ranked will qualify to the 2021 edition of the Champions League.
