Canada will open this summer’s Gold Cup in Toronto against an undecided qualifier before heading off to Houston to complete Group D matches against Guatemala and Cuba.

The 47th-ranked Canadian will take on one from Guadeloupe, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Grenada on June 27 at the BMO Course. Unranked Guadeloupe against No. 104 Trinidad and Tobago while No. 170 Guyana meets No. Grenada’s 175 two winners face off in a qualifying match to see who joins Group D.

The Canadians will then fly to Texas to face No. Guatemala. 116 on July 1 and Cuba on July 4 with both games at Shell Energy Stadium, home to Houston Dynamo and Dash.

The difficulty level increased significantly in the July 9 quarter-finals with the top two teams in Group D crossing over to face the top two from Group A, which consists of the 13th-ranked US, No. 63 Jamaica, No. 140 Nicaraguans and qualifications.

Those who advanced from the Canadian group will play their quarter-finals at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati. The venue is one of four new venues at the tournament, with the other being CITYPARK in St. Louis. Louis, Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego and SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, which will host the final.

The 17th edition of CONCACAF’s flagship competition for the men’s national team took place from 16 June to 16 July in 15 stadiums in 14 cities. The BMO field is Canada’s only stop and that is for one game.

The tournament opens with a 12-team qualifying competition on June 16-20 that will fill the final three spots in the 16-nation tournament.

Canada was one of four seeded teams in the recent Gold Cup draw, meaning it was kept out of the US, No.15 Mexico and No.39 Costa Rica.

The Canadian men will take part in the CONCACAF Nations League finals June 15-18 in Las Vegas ahead of the Gold Cup. They face No. 58 Panama in one semifinal while the US faces Mexico in the other.

Canadian coach John Herdman said he would call up a squad for both competitions, likely keeping a long list at the ready given some players may need time off after their club season.

The winner of the Nations League will receive US$1 million in prize money, while the Gold Cup title will receive around US$1.9 million.

The three-tier Nations League serves as Gold Cup qualifiers, with the top two teams in each of the four League A groups booking their tickets. Canada qualified as winner of Group C, along with Honduras, joined by the US, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama and Jamaica.

Haiti, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Cuba qualified by winning their groups in League B.

Canada has staged a Gold Cup game only once before – in 2015 when BMO Field hosted a group stage double that saw Canada tying Costa Rica 0-0 and Jamaica beating El Salvador 1-0.

The Canadian men have not lost at BMO Field since September 2010 when they were beaten 2-0 by Peru. Canada has gone 15-0-6 at the lakeside stadium since then, outscoring the opponent 54-6.

Mexico has won the Gold Cup eight times, compared to seven for the reigning champions US

Canada won in 2000, beating Mexico and Trinidad and Tobago in the knockout stages before beating Colombia 2-0 in the final at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on April 18, 2023