USWNT to host inaugural Concacaf W Gold Cup in 2024

The inaugural Concacaf W Gold Cup will kick off in February 2024, the federation announced Wednesday.

The U.S. women’s national team became the first team to qualify, courtesy of its Concacaf W Championship victory last summer. The USWNT also will host the international tournament, which will build on the momentum from the 2023 World Cup this summer in Australia and New Zealand.

The Gold Cup will start Feb. 17, 2024, with a six-team preliminary round, then will move into a 12-team group stage and an eight-team knockout stage. The tournament will conclude with the championship match on March 10.

The group stage will feature eight teams from Concacaf and four from South America’s CONMEBOL as part of a collaboration between the confederations. The CONMEBOL participants (Brazil, Colombia, Argentina and Paraguay) were selected via the 2022 Copa América.

From Concacaf, the winner of the Concacaf Olympic play-in matches between Canada and Jamaica will earn a berth, joining the USWNT. So will three teams from the qualifying competition, which will begin in September. The final three teams in the group stage will be decided in the preliminary round.

“This new Concacaf W Gold Cup will be the flagship event for women’s national team football in our region and will showcase some of the very best women’s football in Concacaf and the world,” Concacaf president Victor Montagliani said.

Schedule

Qualification

• Dates: FIFA international windows in September, October and November
• Format: Thirty-three teams from Concacaf, not including the two teams who already have qualified (USWNT and Canada or Jamaica), will be split into three leagues according to their confederation rankings, and then those leagues will be split into three groups. The top three finishers from the three groups in the top league (League A) will advance to the group stage.

Prelims

• Date: Feb. 17
• Format: The three runners-up from League A’s groups and the three winners from League B’s groups will participate in the preliminary competition. The six teams will be seeded according to their confederation rankings. Each will play one of the other teams in a single-elimination match, with the three winners advancing to the group stage.

Group stage

• Dates: Feb. 20-28
• Format: The 12 teams will be split into three groups of four for round-robin play, with three matches per team. The three group winners, three group runners-up and two best third place finishers will advance.

Knockout stage

• Dates: March 2-10
• Format: The eight teams will participate in a single-elimination format tournament, with the quarterfinals on March 2-3, semifinals on March 6 and final on March 10.