March 31 – Concacaf has released detail of the draw and seedings for the Gold Cup 2023 groups and preliminary plays offs.
The just completed Nations League qualified 12 teams directly to the Gold Cup finals, and a further 12 teams to the knockout stage that will qualify a further three teams. 2019 Asian Champions Qatar will play as a guest team.
The group draw will see the 12 qualified teams placed in three pots according to their Concacaf ranking.
While Panama beat Costa Rica to top their Nations League group, Costa Rica’s ranking is still higher than Panama’s, putting them in the top four seeds. Similarly Honduras who came second in League A have a ranking that will see them in the third seeded pot.
Group draw seedings:
Pot 1 (Four highest-ranked teams): Mexico, United States, Costa Rica, and Canada.
Pot 2 (Four next best-ranked teams): Panama, Haiti, Jamaica, and Guatemala.
Pot 3 (Four lowest-ranked teams): Honduras, El Salvador, Cuba, and Nicaragua
Pot 4: Qatar, Winner Prelims 7, Winner Prelims 8, and Winner Prelims 9
The draw for the preliminary rounds that will be played in Fort Lauderdale the week before the group stages take place and will see the 12 teams ranked into two pots of six. The top six ranked teams will be drawn for the first knock-out game against a nation from the six lowest teams.
Preliminary round seedings:
Round One matchups (six highest-ranked teams): Trinidad and Tobago (1), Martinique (2), Curaçao (3), French Guiana (4), Suriname (5), and Guyana (6)
Pot 1 (Six lowest ranked teams): Guadeloupe, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Grenada, Puerto Rico, and Sint Maarten.
The pairings for Round Two have been pre-determined, and will be as follows:
Matchup 7: Winner Matchup 1 vs Winner Matchup 6
Matchup 8: Winner Matchup 2 vs Winner Matchup 5
Matchup 9: Winner Matchup 3 vs Winner Matchup 4
The live draw will take place on April 14, at SoFi Stadium, in Inglewood, California, where the final will be played on July 16.
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