Report: Lincoln Financial Field to Host Gold Cup Final
Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field will host the CONCACAF Gold Cup Final this year, according to a report from Philly.com’s Jonathan Tannenwald. The Gold Cup is the biennial North American soccer championship. (CONCACAF stands for the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football, if you’re wondering.)
The Gold Cup Final will take place on July 26th, with the tournament’s third place game happening the day before at PPL Park in Chester, the home of the Union.
Tannenwald reports the Linc beat out several stadiums for the honor, including MetLife Stadium in North Jersey — which was the favorite to host the final. The United States won the previous Gold Cup, in 2013, beating Panama in the final at Chicago’s Soldier Field.
The tournament is actually quite big for the U.S. If Team USA wins, the team will qualify automatically for the FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia in 2017, a “World Cup preview” tournament that pits the champions of each continent against each other. The U.S. was runner-up in the Confederations Cup in 2009. If another team wins the tournament, the U.S. will play that country for the right to play in the Confederations Cup.
The Gold Cup has been held 12 times since 1991. The U.S has won it five times. Mexico has won it six times; Canada won it once.
