PHILADELPHIA
The U.S. men’s national team will play Panama, Haiti and the winner of a playoff between Honduras and French Guiana in Group A of the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup in July.
CONCACAF revealed the three groups and unveiled the schedule for the entire 12-team tournament in a press conference at Lincoln Financial Field on Thursday morning. FOX Sports will air every match in this summer’s Gold Cup.
The slate means the Americans must cope with Honduras or French Guiana (July 7 in Frisco, Texas), Haiti (July 10 in Foxborough, Mass.) and Panama (July 13 in Kansas City, Kan.) to claim a quarterfinal berth.
If the Americans advance in first or second place as expected, then they will play a quarterfinal in Baltimore on July 18. If the Americans finish in third place, then they will play in East Rutherford, N.J. on July 19. The semifinals follow in Atlanta on July 22 before the third-place match at PPL Park on July 25 and the showpiece final in Philadelphia on July 26.
2015 CONCACAF GOLD CUP GROUPS
| GROUP A | USA, Panama, Haiti, Honduras or French Guiana |
| GROUP B | Costa Rica, El Salvador, Canada, Jamaica |
| GROUP C | Mexico, Guatemala, Trinidad & Tobago, Cuba |
The stakes in this tournament are significant. If Jurgen Klinsmann and his players win the Gold Cup this summer, then they will confirm their place at the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia. If another nation wins the tournament, then the Americans will face a one-off playoff later this year to determine the CONCACAF entrant in that tournament.
Costa Rica is the seeded team in Group B alongside El Salvador, Canada and Jamaica, while Mexico leads Group C with Guatemala, Trinidad & Tobago and Cuba providing the opposition in that group.
