2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup
International football tournament in North America From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
Copa Oro de la CONCACAF 2021 (Spanish) | |
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![]() This Is Ours Spanish: Esto Es Nuestro | |
Tournament details | |
Host country | United States |
Dates | July 10 – August 1 |
Teams | 16 (from 2 confederations) |
Venue(s) | 10 (in 9 host cities) |
Final positions | |
Champions | United States (7th title) |
Runners-up | Mexico |
Tournament statistics | |
Matches played | 31 |
Goals scored | 89 (2.87 per match) |
Attendance | 636,770 (20,541 per match) |
Top scorer(s) | Almoez Ali (4 goals) |
Best player(s) | Héctor Herrera |
Best young player | Tajon Buchanan |
Best goalkeeper | Matt Turner |
Fair play award | United States |
← 2019 2023 → |
The tournament was originally scheduled from 2 through July 25, 2021, but was later rescheduled for July 10 through August 1.[1][2] Mexico were the defending champions. For the first time, the video assistant referee (VAR) system was used at the tournament.[3]
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
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Team qualified for CONCACAF Gold Cup
Team failed to qualify
Team 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.[4] 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.[5] 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.[6]
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.[7]
Team | Qualification[A] | Date of qualification |
Gold Cup appearances (+ CONCACAF Championship) |
Last appearance (+ CONCACAF Championship) |
Previous best Gold Cup performance[B] (+ CONCACAF Championship) |
FIFA Ranking at start of event[8] |
CONCACAF Ranking at start of event[9] |
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CNL League A Group A runners-up |
October 11, 2019 | 15th (18th) | 2019 | Champions (2000) Champions (1985) |
70 | 3 |
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CNL League A Group C winners |
October 13, 2019 | 15th (21st) | 2019 | Runners-up (1991) Champions (1981) |
67 | 5 |
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CNL League B Group A winners |
November 14, 2019 | 3rd (3rd) | 2011 | Group stage (2009, 2011) | 160 | 23 |
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CNL League B Group C winners |
November 15, 2019 | 12th (14th) | 2019 | Runners-up (2015, 2017) | 45 | 6 |
![]() (host) |
CNL League A Group A winners |
November 15, 2019 | 16th (18th) | 2019 | Champions (1991, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2013, 2017) | 20 | 2 |
![]() (title holders) |
CNL League A Group B winners |
November 15, 2019 | 16th (24th) | 2019 | Champions (1993, 1996, 1998, 2003, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2019) Champions (1965, 1971, 1977) |
11 | 1 |
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CNL League B Group B winners |
November 16, 2019 | 12th (18th) | 2019 | Quarter-finals (2002, 2003, 2011, 2013, 2017) Runners-up (1963, 1981) |
69 | 10 |
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CNL League A Group D winners |
November 17, 2019 | 15th (21st) | 2019 | Runners-up (2002) Champions (1963, 1969, 1989) |
50 | 4 |
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CNL League A Group C runners-up |
November 17, 2019 | 7th (7th) | 2019 | Quarter-finals (2002) | —[C] | 11 |
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CNL League B Group D winners |
November 18, 2019 | 1st (3rd) | N/A (1985) | Debut 6th place (1977) |
136 | 15 |
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CNL League A Group B runners-up |
November 19, 2019 | 10th (11th) | 2019 | Runners-up (2005, 2013) | 78 | 7 |
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Invited guest | September 2, 2020 | 1st | N/A | Debut | 58 | N/A |
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GCQ winners | July 6, 2021 | 11th (16th) | 2019 | Third place (2000) | 103 | 13 |
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GCQ winners | July 6, 2021 | 8th (16th) | 2019 | Semi-finals (2019) Champions (1973) | 83 | 9 |
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GCQ winners | July 6, 2021 | 4th (4th) | 2011 | Semi-finals (2007) | —[C] | 16 |
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Next best-ranked team from GCQ[7] | July 9, 2021 | 11th (19th) | 2015 | Fourth place (1996) Champions (1967) |
127 | 8 |
- CNL indicates 2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League, GCQ indicates 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup Qualifiers.
Venues
On April 13, 2021, CONCACAF announced that the final would take place on August 1, 2021, at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada.[10] On April 22, CONCACAF confirmed the tournament would be held across 9 cities in the U.S.[11]
Dallas | Arlington (Dallas/Fort Worth Area) |
Houston | |
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Cotton Bowl | AT&T Stadium | NRG Stadium | BBVA Stadium |
Capacity: 92,100 | Capacity: 80,000 | Capacity: 71,795 | Capacity: 22,039 |
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Glendale (Phoenix Area) |
Paradise (Las Vegas Area) | ||
State Farm Stadium | Allegiant Stadium | ||
Capacity: 63,400 | Capacity: 61,000 | ||
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Orlando | Austin | Frisco (Dallas/Fort Worth Area) |
Kansas City |
Exploria Stadium | Q2 Stadium | Toyota Stadium | Children's Mercy Park |
Capacity: 25,500 | Capacity: 20,500 | Capacity: 20,500 | Capacity: 18,467 |
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Final draw
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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.[12] 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):[13]
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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):
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Matchday | Dates | Matches |
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Matchday 1 | July 10–13, 2021 | 2 v 3, 1 v 4 |
Matchday 2 | July 14–17, 2021 | 4 v 2, 3 v 1 |
Matchday 3 | July 18–20, 2021 | 1 v 2, 3 v 4 |
Squads
Each team had to submit a list of 23 players, of which 3 players must be goalkeepers.[14]
Match officials
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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.[15]
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.[16][17] 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.[18][19]
Referees
Drew Fischer
Ricardo Montero
Juan Gabriel Calderón
Bakary Gassama
Reon Radix
Mario Escobar
Bryan López
Selvin Brown
Said Martínez
Oshane Nation
Daneon Parchment
Adonai Escobedo
Fernando Guerrero
Fernando Hernández
César Ramos
Iván Barton
Ismael Cornejo
Jair Marrufo
Armando Villarreal
Ismail Elfath
Assistant referees
Iroots Appleton
Micheal Barwegen
William Arrieta
Juan Carlos Mora
Gerson López
Walter López
Christian Ramírez
Roney Salinas
Nicholas Anderson
Ojay Duhaney
Jassett Kerr
Miguel Hernández
Michel Morales
Alberto Morin
Henri Pupiro
Geovany García
David Morán
Juan Francisco Zumba
Djibril Camará
Zachari Zeegelaar
Caleb Wales
Frank Anderson
Kyle Atkins
Logan Brown
Kathryn Nesbitt
Corey Parker
Video assistant referees
David Gantar
Carlos Ayala
Arturo Cruz
Leon Barajas
Erick Miranda
Angel Monroy
Joel Rangel
Tatiana Guzmán
Allen Chapman
Tim Ford
Edvin Jurisevic
Chris Penso
Targeted advanced referee program (TARP)
Pierre-Luc Lauzière
Keylor Herrera
Benjamin Pineda
Diego Montaño
José Torres
Tristley Bassue
Nima Saghafi
Rubiel Vazquez
Group stage
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The match schedule was announced on May 13, 2021.[20]
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:[14]
- Points obtained in all group matches (three points for a win, one for a draw, none for a defeat);
- Goal difference in all group matches;
- Number of goals scored in all group matches;
- Points obtained in the matches played between the teams in question;
- Goal difference in the matches played between the teams in question;
- Number of goals scored in the matches played between the teams in question;
- 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;
- Drawing of lots.
Group A
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
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1 | ![]() |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 7 | Advance to knockout stage |
2 | ![]() |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 6 | |
3 | ![]() |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 2 | |
4 | ![]() |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | −5 | 1 |
Source: CONCACAF
Group B
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
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1 | ![]() |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | +7 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
2 | ![]() |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 6 | |
3 | ![]() |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 3 | |
4 | ![]() |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 12 | −9 | 0 |
Source: CONCACAF
(H) Hosts
(H) Hosts
Martinique ![]() | 1–6 | ![]() |
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Rivière ![]() |
Report |
Group C
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
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1 | ![]() |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
2 | ![]() |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 6 | |
3 | ![]() |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 3 | |
4 | ![]() |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 0 |
Source: CONCACAF
Costa Rica ![]() | 3–1 | ![]() |
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Report | Mirval ![]() |
Costa Rica ![]() | 1–0 | ![]() |
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Ruiz ![]() |
Report |
Suriname ![]() | 2–1 | ![]() |
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Report | Phaëton ![]() |
Group D
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 3 | +6 | 7 | Advance to knockout stage |
2 | ![]() |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 6 | |
3 | ![]() |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 4 | |
4 | ![]() |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 11 | −10 | 0 |
Source: CONCACAF
Knockout stage
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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.[14]
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-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
24 July – Glendale | ||||||||||
![]() | 3 | |||||||||
29 July – Austin | ||||||||||
![]() | 2 | |||||||||
![]() | 0 | |||||||||
25 July – Arlington | ||||||||||
![]() | 1 | |||||||||
![]() | 1 | |||||||||
1 August – Paradise | ||||||||||
![]() | 0 | |||||||||
![]() | 1 | |||||||||
24 July – Glendale | ||||||||||
![]() | 0 | |||||||||
![]() | 3 | |||||||||
29 July – Houston (NRG) | ||||||||||
![]() | 0 | |||||||||
![]() | 2 | |||||||||
25 July – Arlington | ||||||||||
![]() | 1 | |||||||||
![]() | 0 | |||||||||
![]() | 2 | |||||||||
Quarter-finals
Mexico ![]() | 3–0 | ![]() |
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Report |
Semi-finals
Final
Statistics
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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
Tajon Buchanan
Theo Corbeanu
Jonathan Osorio
Ariel Lassiter
Bryan Ruiz
Jairo Henríquez
Walmer Martinez
Alex Roldan
Romar Frank
Raphaël Mirval
Matthias Phaëton
Dimitri Ramothe
Gerardo Gordillo
Ricardo Adé
Carnejy Antoine
Stéphane Lambese
Jerry Bengtson
Johnny Leverón
Alexander López
Edwin Solano
Cory Burke
Bobby Decordova-Reid
Junior Flemmings
Shamar Nicholson
Kévin Fortuné
Jonathan dos Santos
Héctor Herrera
Luis Rodríguez
Alberto Quintero
César Yanis
Homam Ahmed
Hassan Al-Haydos
Mohammed Muntari
Nigel Hasselbaink
Reon Moore
Nicholas Gioacchini
Matthew Hoppe
Shaq Moore
Sam Vines
1 own goal
Amari'i Bell (against Guadeloupe)
Samuel Camille (against United States)
Source: CONCACAF
Awards
The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament.
- Golden Ball Award:
Héctor Herrera[29]
- Golden Boot Award:
Almoez Ali[30]
- Golden Glove Award:
Matt Turner[31]
- Young Player Award:
Tajon Buchanan[32]
- Goal of the Tournament:
Bobby Decordova-Reid (against
Suriname)[33]
- Fighting Spirit Award:
Bryan Tamacas[34]
- Fair Play Award:
United States[35]
- Best XI
The following players were chosen as the tournament's best eleven.[36]
Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
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Prize money
Each team received a participation fee of $200,000, with the runners-up earning $500,000 and the winners earning $1 million.[37][additional citation(s) needed]
Round achieved | Amount | Teams |
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Final tournament | $200,000 | 16 |
Runners-up | $500,000 | 1 |
Winners | $1,000,000 | 1 |
Marketing
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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
- Allstate,
- Angry Orchard,
- Chick-Fil-A,
- Coca-Cola,
- Grubhub,
- Grupo Modelo,
- Guaranteed Rate,
- MGM Resorts,
- Nike,
- O'Reilly Auto Parts,
- Powerade,
- Scotiabank,
- Qatar Airways,
- Toyota,
- Walgreens,
- Valvoline,
- Visit Las Vegas
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.[38]
"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
References
External links
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