| Copa Oro de la CONCACAF 2021 (Spanish) | |
|---|---|
 This Is Ours Spanish:Esto Es Nuestro | |
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | United States |
| Dates | July 10 – August 1 |
| Teams | 16 (from 2 confederations) |
| Venue | 10 (in 9 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  United States (7th title) |
| Runners-up |  Mexico |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 31 |
| Goals scored | 89 (2.87 per match) |
| Attendance | 636,770 (20,541 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Almoez Ali(4 goals) |
| Best player | Héctor Herrera |
| Best young player |  Tajon Buchanan |
| Bestgoalkeeper | Matt Turner |
| Fair play award | United States |
←2019 2023 → | |
The2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 16th edition of theCONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men'ssoccer championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean regions organized byCONCACAF.
The tournament was originally scheduled from 2 through July 25, 2021, but was later rescheduled for July 10 through August 1.[1][2]Mexico were the defending champions. For the first time, thevideo assistant referee (VAR) system was used at the tournament.[3]
TheUnited States won their seventh Gold Cup title by defeating Mexico 1–0 in thefinal atAllegiant Stadium inParadise, Nevada.
Twelve teams qualified directly via the2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League. These were the four group winners ofLeague A, four group runners-up ofLeague A and the four group winners ofLeague B.
Furthermore, twelve teams were entered into the2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup qualification tournament (GCQ), also based on the results of the2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League. These teams were the four group third-placed teams ofLeague A, the four group runners-up ofLeague B, and the four group winners ofLeague C.
In the original format as announced in September 2019, four teams were to advance out of the GCQ.[4] However, in September 2020, CONCACAF announced that2019 AFC Asian Cup champions and2022 FIFA World Cup hostsQatar would participate as a guest in the 2021 and2023 tournaments.[5] It was the first time since2005 that a non-CONCACAF association took part in the tournament. Consequently, just three teams qualified for the 2021 edition via the qualifiers.[6]
On July 9, 2021, CONCACAF announced thatCuraçao, which had originally qualified as the2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League A Group D runners-up, would not participate in the tournament because of its high number of COVID-19 cases. They were replaced in Group A byGuatemala, the next-highest ranked team in qualifying.[7]
| Team | Qualification[A] | Date of qualification | Gold Cup appearances (+CONCACAF Championship) | Last appearance (+CONCACAF Championship) | Previous best Gold Cup performance[B] (+CONCACAF Championship) | FIFA Ranking at start of event[8] | CONCACAF Ranking at start of event[9] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | CNL League A Group A runners-up | October 11, 2019 | 15th(18th) | 2019 | Champions(2000) Champions(1985) | 70 | 3 |
 Honduras | CNL League A Group C winners | October 13, 2019 | 15th(21st) | 2019 | Runners-up(1991) Champions(1981) | 67 | 5 |
 Grenada | CNL League B Group A winners | November 14, 2019 | 3rd(3rd) | 2011 | Group stage(2009,2011) | 160 | 23 |
 Jamaica | CNL League B Group C winners | November 15, 2019 | 12th(14th) | 2019 | Runners-up(2015,2017) | 45 | 6 |
| United States (host) | CNL League A Group A winners | November 15, 2019 | 16th(18th) | 2019 | Champions(1991,2002,2005,2007,2013,2017) | 20 | 2 |
| Mexico (title holders) | CNL League A Group B winners | November 15, 2019 | 16th(24th) | 2019 | Champions(1993,1996,1998,2003,2009,2011,2015,2019) Champions(1965,1971,1977) | 11 | 1 |
 El Salvador | CNL League B Group B winners | November 16, 2019 | 12th(18th) | 2019 | Quarter-finals(2002,2003,2011,2013,2017) Runners-up(1963,1981) | 69 | 10 |
 Costa Rica | CNL League A Group D winners | November 17, 2019 | 15th(21st) | 2019 | Runners-up(2002) Champions(1963,1969,1989) | 50 | 4 |
 Martinique | CNL League A Group C runners-up | November 17, 2019 | 7th(7th) | 2019 | Quarter-finals(2002) | —[C] | 11 |
 Suriname | CNL League B Group D winners | November 18, 2019 | 1st(3rd) | N/A(1985) | Debut 6th place(1977) | 136 | 15 |
 Panama | CNL League A Group B runners-up | November 19, 2019 | 10th(11th) | 2019 | Runners-up(2005,2013) | 78 | 7 |
| Qatar | Invited guest | September 2, 2020 | 1st | N/A | Debut | 58 | N/A |
 Trinidad and Tobago | GCQ winners | July 6, 2021 | 11th(16th) | 2019 | Third place(2000) | 103 | 13 |
 Haiti | GCQ winners | July 6, 2021 | 8th(16th) | 2019 | Semi-finals(2019)Champions (1973) | 83 | 9 |
 Guadeloupe | GCQ winners | July 6, 2021 | 4th(4th) | 2011 | Semi-finals(2007) | —[C] | 16 |
 Guatemala | Next best-ranked team from GCQ[7] | July 9, 2021 | 11th(19th) | 2015 | Fourth place(1996) Champions(1967) | 127 | 8 |
On April 13, 2021, CONCACAF announced that the final would take place on August 1, 2021, atAllegiant Stadium inParadise, Nevada.[10] On April 22, CONCACAF confirmed the tournament would be held across 9 cities in the U.S.[11]
| Dallas | Arlington (Dallas/Fort Worth Area) | Houston | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cotton Bowl | AT&T Stadium | NRG Stadium | BBVA Stadium |
| Capacity:92,100 | Capacity:80,000 | Capacity:71,795 | Capacity:22,039 |
.jpg) |  |  |  |
| Glendale (Phoenix Area) | Location of the host cities of the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup. | Paradise (Las Vegas Area) | |
| State Farm Stadium | Allegiant Stadium | ||
| Capacity:63,400 | Capacity:61,000 | ||
 | .jpg) | ||
| Orlando | Austin | Frisco (Dallas/Fort Worth Area) | Kansas City |
| Exploria Stadium | Q2 Stadium | Toyota Stadium | Children's Mercy Park |
| Capacity:25,500 | Capacity:20,500 | Capacity:20,500 | Capacity:18,467 |
_2.jpg) | .jpg) |  |  |
The group stage draw took place inMiami, Florida, United States on September 28, 2020, 20:00EDT (UTC−4), along with the draw for thepreliminary round. This was the first ever group stage draw for the Gold Cup.[12] The teams were split into four pots based on theCONCACAF Rankings of August 2020. The four teams of Pot 1 were automatically seeded, withMexico in Group A, theUnited States in Group B,Costa Rica in Group C andHonduras in Group D. GuestsQatar were placed in Pot 4 and pre-drawn into Group D, which began play on the latest date, as they were also slated to participate in the2021 Copa América prior to the Gold Cup before subsequently withdrawing from that tournament.
The following was the composition of the draw pots (pots were based on the August 2020CONCACAF Rankings, and teams initalics areprelim winners whose identity was not known at the time of the seeding):[13]
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The draw resulted in the following groups (teams initalics areprelim winners whose identity was not known at the time of the draw):
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| Matchday | Dates | Matches |
|---|---|---|
| Matchday 1 | July 10–13, 2021 | 2 v 3, 1 v 4 |
| Matchday 2 | July 14–17, 2021 | 4 v 2, 3 v 1 |
| Matchday 3 | July 18–20, 2021 | 1 v 2, 3 v 4 |
Each team had to submit a list of 23 players, of which 3 players must be goalkeepers.[14]
On June 29, 2021, CONCACAF announced a total of 19 referees, 25 assistant referees and 12 video assistant referees (VAR) appointed for the tournament. In addition, the CONCACAF Referee Committee approved the participation of 12 referees from CONCACAF's Targeted Advanced Referee Program (TARP) who trained with elite officials in order to prepare for future competitions.[15]
Gambian refereeBakary Gassama andSenegalese assistant referee Djibril Camará participated in the tournament as part of a referee exchange between theConfederation of African Football and CONCACAF.[16][17] Originally, the African refereeing team was also conformed by refereeMaguette N'Diaye and assistant referee El Hadji Malick Samba, both from Senegal. However, these two officials had problems with their visas, preventing them from traveling.[18][19]
Referees
Assistant referees
Iroots Appleton Micheal Barwegen William Arrieta Juan Carlos Mora Gerson López Walter López Christian Ramírez Roney Salinas Nicholas Anderson Ojay Duhaney Jassett Kerr Miguel Hernández Michel Morales Alberto Morin
Henri Pupiro Geovany García David Morán Juan Francisco Zumba
Djibril Camará Zachari Zeegelaar Caleb Wales Frank Anderson Kyle Atkins Logan Brown Kathryn Nesbitt Corey ParkerVideo assistant referees
David Gantar Carlos Ayala Arturo Cruz Leon Barajas Erick Miranda Angel Monroy Joel Rangel Tatiana GuzmánAllen Chapman Tim FordEdvin JurisevicChris PensoTargeted advanced referee program (TARP)
Pierre-Luc Lauzière Keylor Herrera Benjamin Pineda Diego Montaño
José Torres
Tristley BassueNima Saghafi Rubiel VazquezThe match schedule was announced on May 13, 2021.[20]
All match times listed areEDT (UTC−4), as listed by CONCACAF. If the venue was located in a different time zone, the local time is also given.
The ranking of teams in the group stage was determined as follows:[14]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mexico | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 7 | Advance toknockout stage |
| 2 | El Salvador | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 6 | |
| 3 | Trinidad and Tobago | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 2 | |
| 4 | Guatemala | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | −5 | 1 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States(H) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | +7 | 9 | Advance toknockout stage |
| 2 | Canada | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 6 | |
| 3 | Haiti | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 3 | |
| 4 | Martinique | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 12 | −9 | 0 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Costa Rica | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 9 | Advance toknockout stage |
| 2 | Jamaica | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 6 | |
| 3 | Suriname | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 3 | |
| 4 | Guadeloupe | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 0 |
| Suriname | 2–1 | Guadeloupe |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Phaëton 20' |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Qatar | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 3 | +6 | 7 | Advance toknockout stage |
| 2 | Honduras | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 6 | |
| 3 | Panama | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 4 | |
| 4 | Grenada | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 11 | −10 | 0 |
In the knockout stage, if a match was level at the end of normal playing time,extra time was played (two periods of 15 minutes each), with each team being allowed to make a sixthsubstitution. If still tied after extra time, the match was decided by apenalty shoot-out.[14]
As with every tournament since2005 (except2015), there was nothird place play-off.
All match times listed areEDT (UTC−4), as listed by CONCACAF. If the venue was located in a different time zone, the local time is also given.
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| 24 July –Glendale | ||||||||||
| Qatar | 3 | |||||||||
| 29 July –Austin | ||||||||||
| El Salvador | 2 | |||||||||
| Qatar | 0 | |||||||||
| 25 July –Arlington | ||||||||||
| United States | 1 | |||||||||
| United States | 1 | |||||||||
| 1 August –Paradise | ||||||||||
| Jamaica | 0 | |||||||||
| United States(a.e.t.) | 1 | |||||||||
| 24 July –Glendale | ||||||||||
| Mexico | 0 | |||||||||
| Mexico | 3 | |||||||||
| 29 July –Houston (NRG) | ||||||||||
| Honduras | 0 | |||||||||
| Mexico | 2 | |||||||||
| 25 July –Arlington | ||||||||||
| Canada | 1 | |||||||||
| Costa Rica | 0 | |||||||||
| Canada | 2 | |||||||||
| Qatar | 3–2 | El Salvador |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Rivas 63',66' |
| Mexico | 3–0 | Honduras |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
There were 89 goals scored in 31 matches, for an average of 2.87 goals per match.
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
Tajon BuchananTheo CorbeanuJonathan OsorioAriel LassiterBryan RuizJairo HenríquezWalmer MartinezAlex Roldan Romar FrankRaphaël MirvalMatthias PhaëtonDimitri RamotheGerardo GordilloRicardo AdéCarnejy AntoineStéphane LambeseJerry BengtsonJohnny LeverónAlexander LópezEdwin SolanoCory BurkeBobby Decordova-ReidJunior FlemmingsShamar NicholsonKévin FortunéJonathan dos SantosHéctor HerreraLuis RodríguezAlberto QuinteroCésar YanisHomam AhmedHassan Al-HaydosMohammed MuntariNigel HasselbainkReon MooreNicholas GioacchiniMatthew HoppeShaq MooreSam Vines1 own goal
Amari'i Bell (against Guadeloupe)Samuel Camille (against United States)Source:CONCACAF
The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament.
Héctor Herrera[29]Almoez Ali[30]Matt Turner[31]Tajon Buchanan[32]Bobby Decordova-Reid (against Suriname)[33]Bryan Tamacas[34] United States[35]The following players were chosen as the tournament's best eleven.[36]
| Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
Each team received a participation fee of $200,000, with the runners-up earning $500,000 and the winners earning $1 million.[37][additional citation(s) needed]
| Round achieved | Amount | Teams |
|---|---|---|
| Final tournament | $200,000 | 16 |
| Runners-up | $500,000 | 1 |
| Winners | $1,000,000 | 1 |
The official logo was unveiled on September 28, 2020, during the final draw inMiami, Florida. The official slogan of the tournament was "This Is Ours".
Flight byNike was the tournament's official match ball.
"All Things (Just Keep Getting Better)" by Canadian musiciansWidelife andSimone Denny, and "Cool" by Irish singer-songwriterSamantha Mumba, served as the two official songs of the tournament. Mumba's first singles "Baby Come on Over" and "Gotta Tell You" were initially selected but were replaced as Mumba's previous labelPolydor rejected the usage.
"Glorious" by English-Canadian girl groupAll Saints served as the official anthem of the tournament.
"Fútbol a la Gente" by Puerto Rican singerGuaynaa and Mexican cumbia groupLos Ángeles Azules, and "Pa'lante" by Colombian singer Lao Ra and Dominican DJ Happy Colors, served as the two official Spanish-language songs of the tournament, the former being selected by Univision as part of their coverage.[38]
"Juega" was the official Spanish anthem, by Colombian duo Cali y El Dandee featuring Jamaican singer Charly Black.
At the 88th minute of the semifinal match between Mexico and Canada, the referee briefly suspended the match because the Mexican fans had been heard yelling the homophonic chant "Puto". Mexico was able to catch a crucial break and ended up scoring the match winning goal at the 99th minute.
Concacaf had plans to double this year's Gold Cup prize money, which previously was $1 million to the champion and $500,000 for the runner-up
