CONCACAF Gold Cup is back. The 16th edition of this competition corresponds to the 60th anniversary of Concacaf. The tournament will take place at 11 stadiums across eight US metropolitan areas and will be held from 10 July to 1 August. The big final will take place at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Tournament Format
CONCACAF 2021 will host 16 teams divided into four groups, where the first and the second place of each group advance to the knockout stage. Twelve out of sixteen teams are qualified directly via the 2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League. From the CONCACAF announcement in September 2020, Qatar will participate as a guest in the 2021 and 2023 tournaments. Consequently, only three teams will qualify for the 2021 edition via the qualifiers. The Preliminary Round will take place on July 2-6. For the first time in this tournament will be used the video assistant referee (VAR) system.
Preliminary Round Schedule
| Draw 1 // Venue: DRV PNK Stadium, Fort Lauderdale | Draw 2 // Venue: DRV PNK Stadium, Fort Lauderdale | Draw 3 // Venue: DRV PNK Stadium, Fort Lauderdale |
| 2 July (16:30) M1: Haiti vs. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 4 July (21:30) M2: Guatemala vs. Guyana | 3 July (21:30) M3: Trinidad and Tobago vs. Montserra |
| 3 July (19:00) M6: Bermuda vs. Barbados | 3 July (16:30) M5: Guadeloupe vs Bahamas | 4 July (19:00) M4: Cuba vs. French Guiana |
| 6 July (19:00) M7: M1 Winner vs. M6 Winner | 6 July (21:30) M8: M2 Winner vs. M5 Winner | 6 July (16:30) M9: M3 Winner vs. M4 Winner |
Qualified teams will be divided into groups as shown below:
Tiebreakers
The tiebreakers for teams who finish with the same points will be:
- Points obtained in all group matches;
- Goal difference;
- Number of goals scored;
- Head-to-head match;
- Goal difference in the head-to-head matches;
- Number of goals scored in head-to-head matches Fair play points : Yellow card: −1 point Red card (second yellow card): −3 points Direct red card: −4 points
- Drawing of lots
Fixture Schedule
| Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D |
| 10 July | 11 July | 12 July | 13 July |
| 16:00 (local time) El Salvador - Curaçao (Toyota Stadium, Frisco) | 17:30 (local time) Canada - Martinique (Children's Mercy Park, Kansas City) | 18:30 (local time) Jamaica - Suriname (Exploria Stadium, OrlandoCity) | 18:00 (local time) Qatar- Panama (BBVA Stadium, Houston) |
| 21:00 (local time) Mexico - W9 (AT&T Stadium, Arlington) | 19:30 (local time) USA- W7 (Children's Mercy Park, Kansas City) | 21:00 (local time) Costa Rica - W8 (Exploria Stadium, OrlandoCity) | 20:00 (local time) Honduras - Granada (BBVA Stadium, Houston) |
| 14 July | 14 July | 16 July | 17 July |
| 18:30 (local time) W9 - El Salvador (Toyota Stadium, Frisco) | 18:30 (local time) W7 - Canada (Children's Mercy Park, Kansas City) | 18:30 (local time) W8 - Jamaica (Exploria Stadium, OrlandoCity) | 18:30 (local time) Granada - Qatar (BBVA Stadium, Houston) |
| 20:30 (local time) Curaçao - Mexico (Cotton Bowl, Dallas) | 20:30 (local time) Martinique - USA (Children's Mercy Park, Kansas City) | 20:30 (local time) Suriname - Costa Rica (Exploria Stadium, OrlandoCity) | 20:30 (local time) Panama - Honduras (BBVA Stadium, Houston) |
| 18 July | 18 July | 20 July | 20 July |
| 21:00 (local time) Mexico - El Salvador (Cotton Bowl, Dallas) | 16:00 (local time) USA - Canada (Toyota Stadium, Frisco) | 18:00 (local time) Suriname - W8 (BBVA Stadium, Houston) | 20:00 (local time) Panama- Grenada (BBVA Stadium, Houston) |
| 21:00 (local time) Curaçao - Winner Prelims 9 (Toyota Stadium, Frisco) | 16:00 (local time) Martinique - W7 (Children's Mercy Park, Kansas City) | 19:00 (local time) Costa Rica - Jamaica (Exploria Stadium, OrlandoCity) | 21:00 (local time) Honduras - Qatar (Exploria Stadium, OrlandoCity) |