The Gold Cup is officially coming back to America's Finest City.
On Monday the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (commonly known as CONCACAF, the entity that oversees soccer for more than 40 member countries) finalized the group of 15 stadiums that will host games. San Diego's shiny new Snapdragon Stadium made the cut. This will be the fourth time the Gold Cup is played in San Diego but the first at SDSU's new venue. The previous three were at Qualcomm Stadium, most recently in 2017.
When you see the full list of 2023 host venues something interesting sticks out (years it has hosted in parenthesis):
AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX (2009, 2011, 2013, 2017, 2021)
Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC (2011,2015, 2019)
Soldier Field, Chicago, IL (2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2019)
TQL Stadium, Cincinnati, OH (first-time host)
DRV PNK Stadium, Fort Lauderdale, FL (2021)
State Farm Stadium, Glendale, AZ (2009, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021)
Red Bull Arena, Harrison, NJ (2013, 2017, 2019)
NRG Stadium, Houston, TX (2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2019, 2021)
Shell Energy Stadium, Houston, TX (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021)
SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, CA (first-time host)
Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, NV (2021)
Snapdragon Stadium, San Diego, CA (first-time host)
Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, CA (2017)
CITYPARK Stadium, St. Louis, MO (first-time host)
BMO Field, Toronto, Canada (2015)
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Snapdragon is the only one given the honor of hosting a Gold Cup game that is not the home of an NFL or Major League Soccer franchise. That is a testament to how well regarded the new stadium is and how highly the region's governing body of soccer thinks of San Diego as a soccer market.
The tournament starts on June 16 and ends on July 17. There are 13 nations who have already secured spots in the event, including the USA and Mexico, and 12 more will play in a preliminary knockout round for the chance to earn three remaining spots in group play. That means at least 40 matches will be played during the event. What we don't know yet is who plays when or where, but that information is not far off.
The draw takes place on Friday, April 14. San Diego should host at least two matches and it will be a chance to audition for even more in the future. While the 2026 World Cup venues have already been decided on there is going to be another major international tournament held in America in 2025. The format has not yet been finalized but it's expected to be a kind of dry run for the World Cup.
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It could be the World Club Cup, a tournament between winners of premier leagues from all six continents that have them (sorry Antarctica), or perhaps even a revamped version of the Confederations Cup where champions from different regions like CONCACAF meet in a World Cup-style event. A good Gold Cup showing from Snapdragon Stadium could earn San Diego the right to host some of those matches.
If I could interject a personal opinion here: if that happens ... where San Diego is hosting those matches, plus the Gold Cup, plus a friendly between Manchester United and Wrexham FC, plus playing its regular role as home of the soon-to-be NWSL champion San Diego Wave FC ... and Major League Soccer still can't figure out how to put a franchise here? Then there are some kinds of dark forces at work that I will never comprehend.
