Concacaf show at scintillating SoFi Stadium

Article posted by Coliseum, November 10^th, 2022

Image: Coliseum GSVA

Los Angeles’ (US) SoFi Stadium will host the final of next year’s Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) Gold Cup, the regional football body said recently. The 70,000-capacity stadium, which is home to the National Football League’s (NFL’s) Los Angeles Chargers and Los Angeles Rams and opened in 2020, will host the deciding game of the 16-nation competition on July 16^th.

‘Sports Brief’ stated that the Gold Cup brings together national teams from North and Central America and the Caribbean and has traditionally been dominated by the United States and Mexico. The Los Angeles venue is among the favorites to host the final of the 2026 World Cup which is being co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada. New York’s 82,500-capacity MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and the NFL team Dallas Cowboys 80,000-capacity AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, are also reported to be contenders.

The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) was founded in 1961 and serves as the organizing body for 41 national associations, including the United States, and spans from Canada in the North to Suriname in the South. The Concacaf Gold Cup is the main association football competition of the men’s national football teams governed by Concacaf, determining the continental champion of North America, which includes Central America and the Caribbean. The Gold Cup is held every two years.

The SoFi Stadium is a 70,000-seat sports and entertainment indoor arena in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, California, United States. SoFi occupies the former site of the Hollywood Park Racetrack, three miles from the Los Angeles International Airport and immediately Southeast of the 17,505-capacity The Kia Forum.

Said Concacaf President and FIFA Vice-President, Victor Montagliani, “The SoFi Stadium is a world-class venue and Los Angeles has hosted so many iconic Gold Cup moments, making this stadium a fantastic choice to stage our 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup Final.”

‘Sports Brief’ further stated that Concacaf also confirmed that next year’s tournament will be preceded by a knockout preliminary competition with 12 teams competing for three spots in the tournament itself.

Added Montagliani, “This provides more access to top-level competition for our members and is very much in keeping with our football first philosophy.”

Twelve slots in the competition are earned through Concacaf’s Nations League competition. Qatar will also feature in the tournament as a guest side. The Gold Cup draw, which will determine the Prelims Round One and Round Two pairings and the Group Stage groups, will take place on April 14^th, once all the participating nations have been confirmed.

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