September 26 – Concacaf has unveiled 14 stadiums for the 2025 Gold Cup which will be played next June predominantly on the West coast and in Texas. Five stadiums that will be used at the 2026 World Cup will also host the Gold Cup in 2025.
That includes the Gold Cup taking a third trip to Canada with BC Place, in Vancouver, hosting for the first time. Vancouver was a late but successful entrant into the 2026 World Cup host bidding. Toronto hosted a Gold Cup round in 2023.
The 54,500 capacity BC Place, home to the MLS team Vancouver Whitecaps, hosted the 2015 Women’s World Cup Final.
The U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis (capacity 55,000) and the 18,000 capacity PayPal Park stadium in San Jose, California.
The U,S Bank Stadium hosted the Super Bowl in 2018, PayPal Park is home to the San Jose Earthquakes (MLS) and Bay FC (NWSL).
Five of the stadiums – AT&T Stadium (Arlington, Texas), BC Place (Vancouver), Levi’s Stadium (Santa Clara, California), NRG Stadium (Houston, Texas), and SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – will also host World Cup matches in 2026.
“The Concacaf Gold Cup is our flagship event for men’s national teams and the 2025 edition is certain to be a highly competitive tournament that delivers on and off the pitch for the competing teams and their fans,” said Concacaf president Victor Montagliani.
“As the last official centralized tournament in our region before the FIFA World Cup 2026, this Gold Cup will provide all participating federations with a great challenge and will be critical to their preparations for World Cup qualification and for participation in the FIFA World Cup itself.”
Mexico are the reigning champion of the Gold Cup champions and are hunting a 10th title. In 2023 they beat Panama 1-0 in the 2023 Final at a sold-out SoFi. The US, who have won seven titles, were beaten by Panama in the semi-finals but picked a squad of predominantly home-based players. With the US men’s programme in tatters after the poor performance at the 2014 Copa America hosted in the US. The Gold Cup represents the final competitive opportunity for new coach Mauricio Pochettino to get his team right and avoid the embarrassment of 2014.
Four of the stadiums chosen have capacities under 25,000 and seven of them have capacities of 37,000 or less.
The other seven stadiums all have capacities over 54,000, with five being over 63,000. The AT&T Stadium in Arlington, which hosted the 2024 Nations League finals, is the largest with an 80,000 capacity.
The 16-team Gold Cup, now in its 18th edition, kicks off with four groups of four on July 2. In 2021 and 2023 Qatar played as a guest nation. They will not be present in 2023 and Concacaf have not said whether their slot will go to another guest or a Concacaf nation.
There will likely be some pressure from the US and Mexico to bring in another top tier nation as a guest to increase the competitiveness. For the women’s Gold Cup earlier this year Concacaf invited the four leading Conmebol nations.
There will likely be some reticence in inviting Conmebol’s men’s nations back to the US after their disastrous organisation of the Copa America in the US, and the behaviour of their nations, fans and ultimately senior executives.
Concacaf said specific match venue allocations will be confirmed at a later date. The group draw will be held April 10 next year.
Also next summer FIFA has scheduled the expanded 32-team Club World Cup in the US. FIFA’s venues will not overlap Concacaf’s and are expected to keep primarily to the East Coast, with a visit to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena being the exception.
Atlanta, Orlando, Miami, Pasadena, Philadelphia, Seattle and two sites in New Jersey have reportedly made FIFA’s shortlist.
The 14 stadiums that will host 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup matches are, in alphabetical order by city/metropolitan area (previously hosted Gold Cups):
- AT&T Stadium – Arlington, TX (2009, 2011, 2013, 2017, 2021, 2023)
- Q2 Stadium – Austin, TX (2021)
- Dignity Health Sports Park – Carson, CA (2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2015)
- NRG Stadium – Houston, TX (2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2019, 2021, 2023)
- Shell Energy Stadium – Houston, TX (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023)
- SoFi Stadium – Inglewood, CA (2023)
- Allegiant Stadium – Las Vegas, NV (2021, 2023)
- U.S. Bank Stadium – Minneapolis, MN (first-time host)
- State Farm Stadium – Phoenix, AZ (2009, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023)
- Snapdragon Stadium – San Diego, CA (2023)
- PayPal Park – San Jose, CA (first-time host)
- Levi’s Stadium – Santa Clara, CA (2017, 2023)
- CITYPARK – St. Louis, MO (2023)
- BC Place – Vancouver, Canada (first-time host)
Contact the writer of this story at oc.ll1732294080abtoo1732294080fdlro1732294080wedis1732294080ni@no1732294080slohc1732294080in.lu1732294080ap1732294080