The biennial CONCACAF Gold Cup may be a way for one nation to claim superiority over the others in the region, but there's more at stake.
For one team emerging from the federation representing North America, Central America and the Caribbean, the Gold Cup helps pave the way to a major international tournament involving some of the best nations in the world: the FIFA Confederations Cup, an eight-team tournament that serves as a dry run to the World Cup. The Confederations Cup pits the champions of FIFA's six regions against the host country and the previous World Cup winner with the next edition taking place in Russia in 2017.
CONCACAF will determine its representative a bit differently this time: The winners of the two Gold Cups prior to the 2017 Confederations Cup (in this case, the 2013 and 2015 Gold Cup) will face off in a playoff series, with the winner moving on to the FIFA Confederations Cup, .
If the same nation wins both Gold Cups (2013 and 2015), they automatically qualify for the Confederations Cup. Since the USA won the 2013 Gold Cup, a US win in 2015 would mean an automatic return trip to the Confederations Cup. If another country wins, CONCACAF will hold its first Confederations Cup playoff.
Here's how previous CONCACAF representatives have done in the FIFA Confederations Cup:
2013: Mexico (Group Stage)
2009: United States (2nd Place)
2005: Mexico (4th Place)
2003: United States (Group Stage)
2001: Canada (Group Stage), Mexico (Group Stage)
1999: Mexico (Champions), United States (3rd Place)
1997: Mexico (Group Stage)
