Why CONCACAF should host the Gold Cup outside the USA

CONCACAF has officially revealed the 14 host stadiums in the USA and Canada for the 2025 Gold Cup. The biennial men’s soccer tournament features national teams from North and Central America and the Caribbean. Like previous iterations of the competition, a majority of the matches will be in the United States. Only one city outside […]

CONCACAF has officially revealed the 14 host stadiums in the USA and Canada for the 2025 Gold Cup. The biennial men’s soccer tournament features national teams from North and Central America and the Caribbean. Like previous iterations of the competition, a majority of the matches will be in the United States. Only one city outside of America, Vancouver, will serve as a host venue.

All 14 cities to host the 2025 Gold Cup games are also primarily on the western side of North America. This was previously planned as a way to ease scheduling conflicts with the 2025 Club World Cup. Both tournaments are happening simultaneously in the United States next summer. Because of this, the Gold Cup will be mostly on the West Coast. The Club World Cup, on the other hand, is set to be played out in the Eastern part of the country.

Other leading tournaments are not always in the same country

The United States has hosted, or at least co-hosted, every single CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament in its history. This, however, is drastically different from competitions in other confederations.

For instance, host nations of UEFA’s European Championship rotate to make the tournament fairer. CONMEBOL also selects different host countries for the Copa America competition as well. These two tournaments are the top national team soccer competitions outside of the actual World Cup. Teams would likely never agree to have a set host nation for these continental tournaments.

Despite having a regular unfair advantage in the Gold Cup, the USMNT has not been the most successful team in the tournament’s history. In fact, Mexico currently has collected more Gold Cup trophies (9) than any other team. The Stars and Stripes, on the other hand, have triumphed seven times in the competition. The USMNT has also finished runners-up to their rivals to the south five times.

CONCACAF devalues the Gold Cup by continuously selecting the USA as the host

The main reason that the United States continuously hosts the Gold Cup comes down to money. CONCACAF officials seemingly want to cash in on selling tickets in the United States, where there is such a melting pot of immigrants from across the region.

America continues to lead the world in foreign-born residents by some margin. This allows CONCACAF to reach soccer fans from many different countries rather than mostly just one nation. Nevertheless, the governing body is essentially devaluing the tournament by always choosing the U.S. as the Gold Cup host country.

Outside of sporting integrity and sending a wrong message about money, the Gold Cup has also become quite predictable. USMNT supporters know that the tournament will be nearby every two years. Meanwhile, fans of other CONCACAF teams make lengthy trips to watch their country play in the competition.

This particular year would have been the perfect time to schedule the Gold Cup in another region. The United States is already hosting the Club World Cup next summer. As a result, another nation could have benefited from holding the CONCACAF tournament. The governing body and FIFA, however, are trying to capitalize on drumming up interest in the 2026 World Cup. The prestigious competition is also in America.

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