Next year’s Concacaf Gold Cup will not have any sites on the U.S. East Coast, a sign FIFA may place games along the Eastern Seaboard in its expanded 32-team Club World Cup.
Concacaf said Wednesday that BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, PayPal Park in San Jose, California, and U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis are the three new venues among 14 sites in 11 areas picked for the tournament, which runs from June 14 to July 6.
FIFA has not announced sites for the Club World Cup, which is slated to start June 15 and end July 13.
ESPN has previously reported that the Club World Cup was slated to take place on the East Coast of the U.S., while the Gold Cup would be held mostly at West Coast venues. However, the participation of the Seattle Sounders has complicated matters; with the team’s Lumen Field under consideration as one of the venues for the Club World Cup.
Sources also told ESPN last week that the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, is among the venues selected to host games at the Club World Cup, with FIFA targeting an announcement on the full list of locations in the upcoming weeks.
Two sites in Houston were picked for the Gold Cup, NRG Stadium and Shell Energy Stadium, along with two sites in the Los Angeles area, SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, and Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, and PayPal Park were chosen from the area south of San Francisco.
Other Gold Cup sites are Arlington, Texas (AT&T Stadium); Austin, Texas (Q2 Stadium); Glendale, Arizona (State Farm Stadium); Las Vegas (Allegiant Stadium); San Diego (Snapdragon Stadium and St. Louis (Citypark).
The U.S. sent second-string rosters to the 2021 and ’23 Gold Cups to give most Europe-based players time off following their club seasons.
Mexico has won nine Gold Cups, including 2023. The U.S. has won seven, including 2021, and Canada won in 2000.
Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.
