The 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup final will be held at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California on Wednesday, July 26, the confederation announced on Wednesday.
Opened in 2014 and primarily serving as the home of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, Levi’s Stadium has already hosted a number of important soccer matches, including the inaugural match at last summer’s Copa America Centenario.
“Levi’s Stadium has quickly earned a place among America’s top venues in terms of atmosphere, amenities and fan experience,” CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani said in a statement released by the confederation. “We’re proud to now bring the final of the Gold Cup – the region’s top competition for national teams – to the Bay Area, building on the resounding success of our Copa America Centenario opener, which drew record crowds last year.”
This year’s Gold Cup will be played in 14 venues in 13 different cities, including first-time host cities Santa Clara, Cleveland, Nashville and San Antonio.
Eleven of the 12 participating Gold Cup teams have been set. Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Panama qualified through last month’s Copa America Centenario. They’ll join auto-qualifiers Canada, Mexico and the US and Caribbean qualifiers Curacao, French Guiana, Jamaica and Martinique. Haiti and Nicaragua will meet in a two-leg playoff to decide the final participant in March, after which the Gold Cup schedule will be revealed.
Held every two years, the Gold Cup is the official national team championship of CONCACAF. This year’s tournament will be broadcast in the US on the FOX and Univision family of networks.
If the winner of the 2017 Gold Cup also wins the 2019 Gold Cup, they’ll book a place at the 2021 FIFA Confederations Cup. If a different team wins the 2019 Gold Cup, the winners of the two tournaments will meet in the CONCACAF Cup playoff match for a spot at the Confederations Cup.
