Twelve nations from the American continent will face each other in hopes of becoming the first CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup champions. In addition to the association’s regular North and Central American and Caribbean teams, three CONMEBOL South American national teams will be joining the tournament.
"I think it's going to be a great competition," Brazil head coach Arthur Elias said. "I'm very happy we get to have this challenge, this competition in our calendar. And also to observe the athletes for an extended period of time, with a higher number of games, and open this possibility to bring new athletes to this competition. It's going to be very productive to our growth in the women's national team."
Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, and Paraguay are the four CONMEBOL teams joining the tournament. Colombia was the only one to play in the knockout stages of the 2023 Women's World Cup.
Tournament Format
The teams are divided into three groups where they will play in a round-robin format. The top two nations from each group will move into the knockout stage. Puerto Rico, El Salvador, and the Dominican Republic were the last three to earn a group stage after defeating Guyana, Guatemala, and Haiti in the preliminary rounds on Saturday, February 17.
Group A will kick off the tournament on February 20 with Mexico and Argentina, followed by the hosts the United States facing the Dominican Republic. On February 21, Group B will take the stage for the first time with Panama versus Colombia and Brazil versus Puerto Rico. Group C will close off the first round on February 22 with Costa Rica vs Panama and Canada versus El Salvador.
"I think we're prepared to play (Brazil) on the same level," Colombia head coach Angelo Marsiglia said about his team's first matchup. "We need (the players) to adapt. They're very young players with a lot of talent and with them we can play a powerhouse like Brazil as equals."
For Colombia, Brazil, Canada, and the United States, this tournament will likely be the longest time the team spends together ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
"I think this Gold Cup is amazing preparation for us for the Olympics," United States defender Emily Fox said. "It's the longest time we're gonna have together as a team, an entire month, so our focus is on the Gold Cup and how we can learn from it and prep for the Olympics. In terms of competition, I think it's gonna be great, each team is gonna pose a threat and we're gonna have to adjust and also keep true to ourselves."
The knockout rounds will start on March 2, with the final being held at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego on March 10.
Where to Watch:
All matches will be available through subscription streaming platforms Fubo and Paramount+ in the United States and OneSoccer and Concacaf Go in Canada. ESPN will broadcast the games in the remaining participating countries. For fans outside of the Americas, Concacaf will stream the matches on their official Youtube page.
Commentaires