The 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 16th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's soccer championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean regions organized by CONCACAF.

The tournament was originally scheduled from 2 through July 25, 2021, but was later rescheduled for July 10 through August 1. Mexico were the defending champions. For the first time, the video assistant referee (VAR) system was used at the tournament.

The United States won their seventh Gold Cup title by defeating Mexico 1–0 in the final at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada.

Qualified teams

Team qualified for CONCACAF Gold CupTeam failed to qualifyTeam withdrew

Twelve teams qualified directly via the 2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League. These were the four group winners of League A, four group runners-up of League A and the four group winners of League B.

Furthermore, twelve teams were entered into the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup qualification tournament (GCQ), also based on the results of the 2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League. These teams were the four group third-placed teams of League A, the four group runners-up of League B, and the four group winners of League C.

In the original format as announced in September 2019, four teams were to advance out of the GCQ. However, in September 2020, CONCACAF announced that 2019 AFC Asian Cup champions and 2022 FIFA World Cup hosts Qatar would participate as a guest in the 2021 and 2023 tournaments. It was the first time since 2005 that a non-CONCACAF association took part in the tournament. Consequently, just three teams qualified for the 2021 edition via the qualifiers.

On July 9, 2021, CONCACAF announced that Curaçao, which had originally qualified as the 2019–20 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 by Guatemala, the next-highest ranked team in qualifying.

TeamQualificationDate of qualificationGold Cup appearances (+ CONCACAF Championship)Last appearance (+ CONCACAF Championship)Previous best Gold Cup performance (+ CONCACAF Championship)FIFA Ranking at start of eventCONCACAF Ranking at start of event
CanadaCNL League A Group A runners-upOctober 11, 201915th (18th)2019Champions (2000) Champions (1985)703
HondurasCNL League A Group C winnersOctober 13, 201915th (21st)2019Runners-up (1991) Champions (1981)675
GrenadaCNL League B Group A winnersNovember 14, 20193rd (3rd)2011Group stage (2009, 2011)16023
JamaicaCNL League B Group C winnersNovember 15, 201912th (14th)2019Runners-up (2015, 2017)456
United States (host)CNL League A Group A winnersNovember 15, 201916th (18th)2019Champions (1991, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2013, 2017)202
Mexico (title holders)CNL League A Group B winnersNovember 15, 201916th (24th)2019Champions (1993, 1996, 1998, 2003, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2019) Champions (1965, 1971, 1977)111
El SalvadorCNL League B Group B winnersNovember 16, 201912th (18th)2019Quarter-finals (2002, 2003, 2011, 2013, 2017) Runners-up (1963, 1981)6910
Costa RicaCNL League A Group D winnersNovember 17, 201915th (21st)2019Runners-up (2002) Champions (1963, 1969, 1989)504
MartiniqueCNL League A Group C runners-upNovember 17, 20197th (7th)2019Quarter-finals (2002)—N/a11
SurinameCNL League B Group D winnersNovember 18, 20191st (3rd)N/A (1985)Debut 6th place (1977)13615
PanamaCNL League A Group B runners-upNovember 19, 201910th (11th)2019Runners-up (2005, 2013)787
QatarInvited guestSeptember 2, 20201stN/ADebut58N/A
Trinidad and TobagoGCQ winnersJuly 6, 202111th (16th)2019Third place (2000)10313
HaitiGCQ winnersJuly 6, 20218th (16th)2019Semi-finals (2019) Champions (1973)839
GuadeloupeGCQ winnersJuly 6, 20214th (4th)2011Semi-finals (2007)—N/a16
GuatemalaNext best-ranked team from GCQJuly 9, 202111th (19th)2015Fourth place (1996) Champions (1967)1278

Venues

On April 13, 2021, CONCACAF announced that the final would take place on August 1, 2021, at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada. On April 22, CONCACAF confirmed the tournament would be held across 9 cities in the U.S.

DallasArlington (Dallas/Fort Worth Area)Houston
Cotton BowlAT&T StadiumNRG StadiumBBVA Stadium
Capacity: 92,100Capacity: 80,000Capacity: 71,795Capacity: 22,039
Glendale (Phoenix Area)OrlandoGlendaleKansas CityArlingtonFriscoDallasAustinParadiseHoustonLocation of the host cities of the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup.Paradise (Las Vegas Area)
State Farm StadiumAllegiant Stadium
Capacity: 63,400Capacity: 61,000
OrlandoAustinFrisco (Dallas/Fort Worth Area)Kansas City
Exploria StadiumQ2 StadiumToyota StadiumChildren's Mercy Park
Capacity: 25,500Capacity: 20,500Capacity: 20,500Capacity: 18,467

Final draw

The group stage draw took place in Miami, Florida, United States on September 28, 2020, 20:00 EDT (UTC−4), along with the draw for the preliminary round. This was the first ever group stage draw for the Gold Cup. The teams were split into four pots based on the CONCACAF Rankings of August 2020. The four teams of Pot 1 were automatically seeded, with Mexico in Group A, the United States in Group B, Costa Rica in Group C and Honduras in Group D. Guests Qatar 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 the 2021 Copa América prior to the Gold Cup before subsequently withdrawing from that tournament.

Seeding

The following was the composition of the draw pots (pots were based on the August 2020 CONCACAF Rankings, and teams in italics are prelim winners whose identity was not known at the time of the seeding):

Pot 1
TeamRank
Pot 1 Team Rank Mexico 1 United States 2 Costa Rica 3 Honduras 4Pot 2 Team Rank Jamaica 5 Canada 6 Panama 8 El Salvador 10Pot 3 Team Rank Martinique 11 Curaçao 13 Suriname 15 Grenada 20Pot 4 Team Rank Haiti —N/a Guadeloupe Trinidad and Tobago Qatar
Mexico1
United States2
Costa Rica3
Honduras4
TeamRank
Jamaica5
Canada6
Panama8
El Salvador10
TeamRank
Martinique11
Curaçao13
Suriname15
Grenada20
TeamRank
Haiti—N/a
Guadeloupe
Trinidad and Tobago
Qatar

Draw results and group fixtures

The draw resulted in the following groups (teams in italics are prelim winners whose identity was not known at the time of the draw):

Group A
PosTeam
Group A PosTeam A1Mexico A2El Salvador A3Guatemala A4Trinidad and TobagoGroup B PosTeam B1United States B2Canada B3Martinique B4HaitiGroup C PosTeam C1Costa Rica C2Jamaica C3Suriname C4GuadeloupeGroup D PosTeam D1Honduras D2Panama D3Grenada D4Qatar
A1Mexico
A2El Salvador
A3Guatemala
A4Trinidad and Tobago
PosTeam
B1United States
B2Canada
B3Martinique
B4Haiti
PosTeam
C1Costa Rica
C2Jamaica
C3Suriname
C4Guadeloupe
PosTeam
D1Honduras
D2Panama
D3Grenada
D4Qatar
Group stage schedule
MatchdayDatesMatches
Matchday 1July 10–13, 20212 v 3, 1 v 4
Matchday 2July 14–17, 20214 v 2, 3 v 1
Matchday 3July 18–20, 20211 v 2, 3 v 4

Squads

Each team had to submit a list of 23 players, of which 3 players must be goalkeepers.

Match officials

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.

Gambian referee Bakary Gassama and Senegalese assistant referee Djibril Camará participated in the tournament as part of a referee exchange between the Confederation of African Football and CONCACAF. Originally, the African refereeing team was also conformed by referee Maguette 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.

Referees

Assistant referees

Video assistant referees

Targeted advanced referee program (TARP)

Group stage

The match schedule was announced on May 13, 2021.

All match times listed are EDT (UTC−4), as listed by CONCACAF. If the venue was located in a different time zone, the local time is also given.

Tiebreakers

The ranking of teams in the group stage was determined as follows:

  1. Points obtained in all group matches (three points for a win, one for a draw, none for a defeat);
  2. Goal difference in all group matches;
  3. Number of goals scored in all group matches;
  4. Points obtained in the matches played between the teams in question;
  5. Goal difference in the matches played between the teams in question;
  6. Number of goals scored in the matches played between the teams in question;
  7. Fair play points in all group matches (only one deduction could be applied to a player in a single match): Yellow card: −1 points;Indirect red card (second yellow card): −3 points;Direct red card: −4 points;Yellow card and direct red card: −5 points;
  8. Drawing of lots.

Group A

PosTeamvtePldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1Mexico321040+47Advance to knockout stage
2El Salvador320141+36
3Trinidad and Tobago302113−22
4Guatemala301216−51
Mexico0–0Trinidad and Tobago
El Salvador2–0Guatemala
Roldán 81' Rivas 90+6'
Trinidad and Tobago0–2El Salvador
Henríquez 30' Martínez 90+1'
Guatemala0–3Mexico
Funes Mori 29', 55' Pineda 79'
Mexico1–0El Salvador
L. Rodríguez 26'
Guatemala1–1Trinidad and Tobago
Gordillo 78'Moore 12'

Group B

PosTeamvtePldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1United States (H)330081+79Advance to knockout stage
2Canada320183+56
3Haiti310236−33
4Martinique3003312−90
Canada4–1Martinique
Larin 16' Osorio 20' Eustáquio 26' Corbeanu 89'Rivière 10'
United States1–0Haiti
Vines 8'
Haiti1–4Canada
Lambese 56'Eustáquio 5' Larin 51', 74'(pen.) Hoilett 79'(pen.)
Martinique1–6United States
Rivière 64'(pen.)Dike 14', 59' Camille 23'(o.g.) Robinson 50' Zardes 70' Gioacchini 90'
Martinique1–2Haiti
Fortuné 53'Antoine 3' Adé 61'
United States1–0Canada
Moore 1'

Group C

PosTeamvtePldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1Costa Rica330062+49Advance to knockout stage
2Jamaica320142+26
3Suriname310235−23
4Guadeloupe300337−40
Jamaica2–0Suriname
Nicholson 6' De Cordova-Reid 26'
Costa Rica3–1Guadeloupe
Campbell 6' Lassiter 21' Borges 70'Mirval 45+5'
Guadeloupe1–2Jamaica
Ramothe 4'Burke 14' Flemmings 87'
Suriname1–2Costa Rica
Vlijter 52'Campbell 58' Borges 59'
Costa Rica1–0Jamaica
Ruiz 53'
Suriname2–1Guadeloupe
Vlijter 14' Hasselbaink 79'Phaëton 20'

Group D

PosTeamvtePldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1Qatar321093+67Advance to knockout stage
2Honduras320174+36
3Panama311187+14
4Grenada3003111−100
Qatar3–3Panama
Afif 48' Ali 53' Al-Haydos 63'(pen.)Blackburn 51', 58' Davis 79'(pen.)
Honduras4–0Grenada
Bengtson 28' Solano 52' Leverón 86' Quioto 88'
Grenada0–4Qatar
Hatem 11' Afif 22' Muntari 36' Ali 46'
Panama2–3Honduras
Davis 32'(pen.) Yanis 45+1'Quioto 22', 65' A. López 61'
Honduras0–2Qatar
Ahmed 25' Hatem 90+5'
Panama3–1Grenada
Quintero 7' Rodríguez 27', 64'Frank 76'

Knockout stage

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 sixth substitution. If still tied after extra time, the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out.

As with every tournament since 2005 (except 2015), there was no third place play-off.

All match times listed are EDT (UTC−4), as listed by CONCACAF. If the venue was located in a different time zone, the local time is also given.

Bracket

Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
24 July – Glendale
Qatar3
29 July – Austin
El Salvador2
Qatar0
25 July – Arlington
United States1
United States1
1 August – Paradise
Jamaica0
United States (a.e.t.)1
24 July – Glendale
Mexico0
Mexico3
29 July – Houston (NRG)
Honduras0
Mexico2
25 July – Arlington
Canada1
Costa Rica0
Canada2

Quarter-finals

Qatar3–2El Salvador
Ali 2', 55'(pen.) Hatem 8'Rivas 63', 66'
Mexico3–0Honduras
Funes Mori 26' Dos Santos 31' Pineda 38'
Costa Rica0–2Canada
Hoilett 18' Eustáquio 69'
United States1–0Jamaica
Hoppe 83'

Semi-finals

Qatar0–1United States
Zardes 86'
Mexico2–1Canada
Pineda 45+2'(pen.) Herrera 90+9'Buchanan 57'

Final

United States1–0 (a.e.t.)Mexico
Robinson 117'

Statistics

Goalscorers

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

1 own goal

Source:

Awards

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament.

Best XI

The following players were chosen as the tournament's best eleven.

GoalkeeperDefendersMidfieldersForwards
United States men's national soccer team Matt TurnerUnited States men's national soccer team Miles Robinson Mexico national football team Edson Álvarez United States men's national soccer team Shaq Moore Jamaica national football team Damion LoweMexico national football team Héctor Herrera Costa Rica national football team Celso Borges Canada men's national soccer team Tajon BuchananQatar national football team Akram Afif Mexico national football team Rogelio Funes Mori Qatar national football team Almoez Ali

Prize money

Each team received a participation fee of $200,000, with the runners-up earning $500,000 and the winners earning $1 million.[additional citation(s) needed]

Round achievedAmountTeams
Final tournament$200,00016
Runners-up$500,0001
Winners$1,000,0001

Marketing

Logo and slogan

The official logo was unveiled on September 28, 2020, during the final draw in Miami, Florida. The official slogan of the tournament was "This Is Ours".

Sponsors

Match ball

Flight by Nike was the tournament's official match ball.

Official songs and anthems

"All Things (Just Keep Getting Better)" by Canadian musicians Widelife and Simone Denny, and "Cool" by Irish singer-songwriter Samantha 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 label Polydor rejected the usage.

"Glorious" by English-Canadian girl group All Saints served as the official anthem of the tournament.

"Fútbol a la Gente" by Puerto Rican singer Guaynaa and Mexican cumbia group Los 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.

"Juega" was the official Spanish anthem, by Colombian duo Cali y El Dandee featuring Jamaican singer Charly Black.

Broadcasting rights

Controversy

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.

Notes

External links