Tickets go on sale Thursday, March 21 at 10 a.m. local time in all markets

CHICAGO (Wednesday, March 13, 2013) – The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) announced today the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup groups and schedule, as well as awarded the 2013 Gold Cup final to the City of Chicago and Soldier Field, to be played on Sunday, July 28, 2013 at 4pm EST. As previously announced, the Rose Bowl will host the opening doubleheader of the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup on Sunday, July 7, which will feature reigning Gold Cup champion, Mexico taking on Panama as part of that doubleheader.

Tickets to all Gold Cup matches will be available to the general public starting on Thursday, March 21 at 10:00 a.m. (local time in all markets) by visiting www.GoldCup.org.  Special pre-sales will be available starting tomorrow, Thursday, March 14 at many of the participating Gold Cup cities.

“We look forward to a successful tournament and an exciting 2013 Gold Cup final on July 28, right here at Soldier Field,” said CONCACAF President, Jeffrey Webb. “We also expect yet another competition fueled by passionate fans brought together in a celebration that will hopefully inspire a whole new generation of players.”

Mexico will anchor Group A, which begins play on July 7, in a double header that kicks off with Canada taking on Martinique at 5:30pm EST the Rose Bowl. Honduras will lead Group B the following day, facing Haiti at Red Bull Arena on July 8, with El Salvador and Trinidad & Tobago facing off earlier in the evening. The United States will play the following night, July 9 in Portland’s JELD-WEN Field against Belize in Group C, which also will include Costa Rica vs. Cuba in the first match of the doubleheader. The complete schedule can be found by clicking here.

The 2013 Gold Cup quarterfinals will be played in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome and Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium, both first-time hosts in the tournament. The semifinals will head to Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX on Wednesday, July 24.

With a mix of historic venues and brand new state of the art soccer facilities that average 57,000 spectators, the 2013 edition of the Gold Cup promises to provide fans both in stadium and at home with unforgettable atmospheres. In 2011, the tournament drew more than 600,000 fans throughout 13 match-days, including nine sell-outs. Taking place every two years, the Gold Cup has established itself as the region’s most popular national team tournament, routinely drawing capacity crowds and millions of television viewers across the region. It features the confederation’s best players from the top 12 nations

2013 CONCACAF GOLD CUP™

GROUP A:  Mexico, Panama, Canada, Martinique

GROUP B:  Honduras, El Salvador, Trinidad & Tobago, Haiti

GROUP C: USA, Costa Rica, Belize, Cuba

SCHEDULE

(local time followed by EDT time)

First Round

Sunday, July 7 – Rose Bowl (Pasadena, CA)

Canada vs. Martinique, 2:30 p.m.  (5:30 p.m. EDT)

Mexico vs. Panama, 5:00 p.m.  (8:00 p.m. EDT)

Monday, July 8 – Red Bull Arena (Harrison, NJ)

El Salvador vs. Trinidad & Tobago, 7 p.m.  (7 p.m. EDT)

Haiti vs. Honduras, 9:30 p.m.  (9:30 p.m. EDT)

Tuesday, July 9 – JELD-WEN Field (Portland, OR)

Costa Rica vs. Cuba, 5:30 p.m.  (8:30 p.m. EDT)

Belize vs. USA, 8 p.m.  (11 p.m. EDT)

Thursday, July 11 – CenturyLink Field (Seattle, WA)

Panama vs. Martinique, 5:30 p.m.  (8:30 p.m. EDT)

Mexico vs. Canada, 8 p.m.  (11 p.m. EDT)

Friday, July 12 – Sun Life Stadium (Miami, FL)

Trinidad & Tobago vs. Haiti, 7 p.m.  (7 p.m. EDT)

Honduras vs. El Salvador, 9:30 p.m.  (9:30 p.m. EDT)

Saturday, July 13 – Rio Tinto Stadium (Salt Lake City, UT)

USA vs. Cuba, 1:30 p.m.  (3:30 p.m. EDT)

Costa Rica vs. Belize, 4:00 p.m.  (6:00 p.m. EDT)

Sunday, July 14 – Sports Authority Field at Mile High (Denver, CO)

Martinique vs. Mexico, 2 p.m.  (4 p.m. EDT)

Panama vs. Canada, 4:30 p.m.  (6:30 p.m. EDT)

Monday, July 15 – BBVA Compass Stadium (Houston, TX)

El Salvador vs. Haiti, 6 p.m.  (7 p.m. EDT)

Honduras vs. Trinidad & Tobago, 8:30 p.m.  (9:30 p.m. EDT)

Tuesday, July 16 – Rentschler Field (Hartford, CT)

Cuba vs. Belize, 5:30 p.m.  (5:30 p.m. EDT)

USA vs. Costa Rica, 8 p.m.  (8 p.m. EDT)

Quarterfinals

Saturday, July 20 – Georgia Dome (Atlanta, GA)

Group A runner-up vs. Group B runner-up, TBD (x)

Group A winner vs. Group B/C third-place, TBD (x)

x-matches scheduled for 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. local (3 p.m. and 6 p.m. EDT) with order TBD

Sunday, July 21 – M&T Bank Stadium (Baltimore, MD)

Group B winner vs. Group C runner-up, TBD (y)

Group C winner vs. Group A/B third place, TBD (y)

y-matches scheduled for 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. local (4 p.m. and 7 p.m. EDT) with order TBD

Semifinals

Wednesday, July 24 – Cowboys Stadium (Arlington, TX)

X quarterfinal winners, TBD (z)

Y quarterfinal winners, TBD (z)

z-matches scheduled for 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. local (7 p.m. and 10 p.m. EDT) with order TBD

Final

Sunday, July 28 – Soldier Field (Chicago, IL)

Semifinal winners, 3 p.m. (4 p.m. EDT)

ABOUT CONCACAF

CONCACAF “The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football” is one of six continental confederations of FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) and serves as the governing body of football in this part of the world. It is composed of 40 national associations, from Canada in the north to Guyana, Surinam and French Guyana in the south.