2023 Gold Cup draw summary: teams, groups, dates, USMNT & Mexico opponents
2023 Gold Cup draw: as it happened
2023 Gold Cup group stage: the full draw
Group A: US, Jamaica, Nicaragua, winner of prelim match 9
Group B: Mexico, Haiti, Honduras, Qatar
Group C: Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador, winner of prelim match 8
Group D: Canada, Guatemala, Cuba, winner of prelim match 7
2023 Gold Cup: the dates confirmed so far
A reminder that the Gold Cup proper gets underway on 24 June, and culminates in the final at SoFi Stadium on 16 July. The quarter-finals are to be held on 8 and 9 July, with the semi-finals both on 12 July.
The preliminary stage is to be played from 16 to 20 June in Fort Lauderdale.
CONCACAF will confirm the full, exact Gold Cup schedule in the coming days.
Prelim matches 7, 8 and 9 - breakdown of potential winners
Just to clarify, the potential prelim winners are as follows:
Match 7: Trinidad and Tobago/Guadaloupe/Guynana/Grenada
Match 8: Martinique/St Lucia/Suriname/Puerto Rico
Match 9: Curaçao/St Kitts & Nevis/French Guiana/Sint Maarten
Groups A and D complete
The winner of prelim match 7 will be in Group D, and the winner of prelim match 9 will be in Group A.
Groups C and B complete
The winner of prelims match 7 goes into Group C, before Qatar are drawn into Group B.
Time for Pot 4
And now, to round off the draw, it's Pot 4.
Those four teams are: Winner of prelim match 7, winner of prelim match 8, winner of prelim match 9, Qatar.
Gold Cup draw after Pot 3
Group A: US, Jamaica, Nicaragua
Group B: Mexico, Haiti, Honduras
Group C: Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador
Group D: Canada, Guatemala, Cuba
Cuba and Honduras into D and B
Cuba are drawn into Group D, and the last team to be plucked from the hat are Honduras. They go into Group B.
El Salvador and Nicaragua the first two out
El Salvador are the first Pot 3 team out, and they go into… Group C!
Nicaragua are next to be picked out. They’ll be in Group A!
Gold Cup draw as things stand
Group A: US, Jamaica
Group B: Mexico, Haiti
Group C: Costa Rica, Panama
Group D: Canada, Guatemala
Now it's time for Pot 3, which features Honduras, El Salvador, Cuba and Nicaragua.
Panama into Group C with Los Ticos
The final Pot 2 team out is Panama, who go into Group C with Costa Rica.
Haiti into Mexico's group
Haiti are the penultimate Pot 2 team to come out. They're drawn into Group B, which is Mexico's group.
Guatelama into Group D
Next up, Guatemala are drawn into Group D with Canada.
Jamaica paired with USMNT
We now move on to Pot 2: that quartet of teams, remember, is Panama, Haiti, Jamaica, Guatemala.
The first team out of the hat is Jamaica, who are drawn into Group A with the US!
Draw underway!
There'd be plenty of mileage in a PhD investigation into on-stage sports-draw chat as a particularly painful sub-genre of banter.
Anyway, as it's already been decided which groups the four Pot 1 teams are going to, the first stage of the draw is a formality that involves Borgetti, Jones, Vincent and Pavón picking out balls whose contents they already know.
Group-stage draw: a reminder of the pots
Before the group-stage draw gets going, let's take a final look at the pots.
Pot 1: Mexico, United States, Costa Rica, Canada
Pot 2: Panama, Haiti, Jamaica, Guatemala
Pot 3: Honduras, El Salvador, Cuba, Nicaragua
Pot 4: Winner of prelim match 7, winner of prelim match 8, winner of prelim match 9, Qatar
The four teams in Pot 1 already know which group they're going into, remember. US are in Group A, Mexico are in Group B, Costa Rica are in Group C and Canada are in Group D.
Almost time for the Gold Cup group-stage draw
Right, it’s very nearly time for the main event: the Gold Cup group-stage draw.
Three CONCACAF legends are brought out to help with the draw: former Mexico forward Jared Borgetti, a Gold Cup winner with El Tri in 2003; Honduras great Carlos Pavón, who appeared at five Gold Cups and was top scorer at the 2007 edition; and Cobi Jones, a Gold Cup winner with the USMNT in 2002.
Gold Cup prelim draw in full
Trinidad and Tobago vs Guadaloupe
Martinique vs St Lucia
Curaçao vs St Kitts & Nevis
French Guiana vs Sint Maarten
Suriname vs Puerto Rico
Guyana vs Grenada
Three of those countries will be completing the 2023 Gold Cup line-up. A reminder that the prelim qualifiers will all be pot 4 teams.
Prelim-stage draw complete
The final two pairings drawn are:
Suriname vs Puerto Rico
Guyana vs Grenada
Three more prelim ties out of the hat
Martinique vs St Lucia
Curaçao vs St Kitts & Nevis
French Guiana vs Sint Maarten
Trinidad and Tobago vs Guadaloupe
Former Jamaica women's player Tashana Vincent is brought out to help with the prelim draw.
The first match-up she pulls out of the hat is: Trinidad and Tobago vs Guadaloupe.
Time for the prelim-stage draw"
OK, it’s pretty much draw time now. Out comes CONCACAF’s Carlos Fernández, who will lead the draw.
First up, we’re going to see the draw for the Gold Cup prelims.
A reminder of those two pots:
Seeds: Guadeloupe, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Grenada, Puerto Rico, Sint Maarten.
Non-seeds: Trinidad and Tobago, Martinique, Curaçao, French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana.
In each round-one prelim tie, a seed will face a non-seed.
CONCACAF "getting stronger and stronger" - Hudson
Asked whether he believes USMNT will retain their Gold Cup trophy this summer, Hudson says: "The region is getting stronger and stronger. Every game is difficult. We're proud of what we did in the Nation League, we're proud of what we did in the World Cup, and our only goal is to keep on improving."
Gold Cup schedule TBC in coming days
Marin notes that the exact schedule for the 2023 Gold Cup will be confirmed in the coming days.
Next, our hosts remind us of the countries involved in the tournament proper and the prelim stage, before calling USMNT boss Anthony Hudson onto the stage. As the coach of the Gold Cup holders - the US beat Mexico 1-0 in the 2021 final - the Englishman is tasked with bringing the trophy out.
CONCACAF chief: 'Group of death' potential shows region's growth
Now CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani comes out onto the stage. The Gold Cup is "our flagship international event," Montagliani says. "We're really excited, because for the first time ever we're likely to have a 'group of death'." That shows the growth of soccer in the region, he tells Lalas.
Montagliani also talks about the development of women's soccer in CONCACAF. "Our investment in the women's game is paying dividends, and we're really exciting about having a Gold Cup in the women's game too," he says.
Draw event underway
Valeria Marin, Alexi Lalas and Fernando Palomo are on stage and busy babbling away.
With the coaches of every team in attendance and sitting in front of them, Palomo engages in a bit of one-way banter with them. He singles out new Mexico boss Diego Cocca, telling him there's "no pressure" on him ahead of his first Gold Cup as El Tri boss. (The joke is that there's actually a lot of pressure on him.)
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It's almost draw time.
While we wait, let me just give you a heads-up about this piece by AS USA's Will Gittins, who has profiled Pascal Panitzsch - an amateur scout who has helped dozens of players with Caribbean heritage fulfil their dreams of playing international football.
Who is hosting the draw?
The Gold Cup draw will be hosted by TUDN sportscaster Valeria Marin, Fox Sports analyst and former USMNT star Alexi Lalas, and ESPN commentator Fernando Palomo.
And there’ll be a few CONCACAF playing legends taking part in the draw process.
Ex-Mexico striker Jared Borgetti will be assisting with the draw, as will Honduran great Carlos Pavón, Cobi Jones - the USMNT’s most-capped men’s player - and Jamaican former women’s player Tashana Vincent.
SoFi Stadium is draw ready
SoFi Stadium, the 70,000-capacity, $5bn home to NFL teams the LA Rams and the LA Chargers, is ready and waiting for the draw.
By the way, if you're looking to watch the Gold Cup draw, I suggest you take a look at my colleague Andy Restrepo's guide on how to tune in.
2023 Gold Cup venues announced
After the prelims are over, the Gold Cup proper gets underway on 24 June, and is scheduled to run until 16 July.
The final of the tournament, which is to be co-hosted by the US and Canada, will be played at SoFi Stadium.
The 15 Gold Cup venues - 14 of which are in the US - have now been confirmed. They are:
AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX
Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC
Soldier Field, Chicago, IL
TQL Stadium, Cincinnati, OH
DRV PNK Stadium, Fort Lauderdale, FL
State Farm Stadium, Glendale, AZ
Red Bull Arena, Harrison, NJ
NRG Stadium, Houston, TX
Shell Energy Stadium, Houston, TX
SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, CA
Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, NV
Snapdragon Stadium, San Diego, CA
Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, CA
CITYPARK, St. Louis, MO
BMO Field, Toronto, Canada
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Hopefully that all made sense.
If it didn't, might I point you in the direction of this Gold Cup draw explainer, put together by my AS USA colleague Roddy Cons.
Top seeds' groups pre-determined
I should add, by the way, that all four top seeds already know which group they're to be placed in.
The US will be in Group A; Mexico, in Group B; Costa Rica, in Group C; and Canada, in Group D.
Gold Cup group-stage draw: the pots
As for the draw for the Gold Cup proper, there will be four pots. Again, teams' CONCACAF ranking at the end of March has been used to decide which pot they go into.
The exceptions to that are Qatar and the three to-be-confirmed prelim winners, who all go into pot 4 by default.
One team from every pot will be drawn into each of the four first-round groups, from which two nations will qualify for the knockout stages.
The Gold Cup draw pots are as follows:
Pot 1: Mexico, United States, Costa Rica, Canada.
Pot 2: Panama, Haiti, Jamaica, Guatemala.
Pot 3: Honduras, El Salvador, Cuba, Nicaragua.
Pot 4: Winner of prelim match 7, winner of prelim match 8, winner of prelim match 9, Qatar.
Gold Cup prelim-stage draw: the pots
So, as I say, today's event in Inglewood will be two draws rolled into one.
In the draw for the prelim stage, the 12 countries have been separated into two pots - seeds and non-seeds - depending on their CONCACAF ranking on 31 March.
A seed will be drawn against a non-seed in round one of the prelims, which will be held on 16/17 June. The winner of each of those ties will then move on to one of three round-two clashes - to be played on 20 June. The trio of winning teams in that second phase will qualify for the Gold Cup.
The two prelim-draw pots are:
Seeds: Guadeloupe, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Grenada, Puerto Rico, Sint Maarten.
Non-seeds: Trinidad and Tobago, Martinique, Curaçao, French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana.
Three more spaces up for grabs at Gold Cup
The 2022/23 Nations League also determined which countries will take part in the Gold Cup’s prelim stage - a pre-tournament event that will decide the final three qualifiers.
The prelims are to be held in Fort Lauderdale in June, just before the tournament proper.
They will involve: the remaining four teams in Nations League League A; the fifth through to eighth best finishers in League B; and the top four countries in League C.
Those 12 teams are: Trinidad and Tobago, Martinique, Curaçao, French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana, Guadeloupe, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Grenada, Puerto Rico and Sint Maarten.
How did those 13 teams qualify for the Gold Cup?
With the exception of Qatar, the baker's dozen in the post below booked their Gold Cup spot through the 2022/23 CONCACAF Nations League, whose league phase concluded recently.
In the Nations League's group stage, the top eight finishers in League A all secured their place at the Gold Cup, while the top four teams in League B also qualified for the tournament.
Qatar, meanwhile, are back as Gold Cup guests, having also been invited to take part in the 2021 edition.
(Photo: JULIO AGUILAR/Getty Images via AFP)
Which countries have qualified for the 2023 Gold Cup?
So far, 13 of the Gold Cup's 16 participants have been confirmed. They are:
Canada (co-hosts)
Costa Rica
Cuba
El Salvador
Guatemala
Haiti
Honduras
Jamaica
Mexico
Nicaragua
Panama
Qatar
United States (co-hosts)
Gold Cup draw: welcome!
Hello there! Welcome to our live coverage of the draw for this summer's 2023 Gold Cup, which will be the 17th edition of CONCACAF’s premier men’s international tournament.
There will in fact be two draws at today’s event at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
We’ll not only find out who will be facing who in the group stage of the tournament proper in June and July; the pairings for the Gold Cup’s final prelim stage will also be revealed.