Toronto's BMO Field announced as host city for 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup
For the first time since 2015, the Gold Cup is returning to Canada.
CONCACAF announced on Monday that Toronto’s BMO Field would be one of the 15 host stadiums of the 2023 Gold Cup, which kicks off on June 24th of this year.
14 cities, 15 stadiums 🏟️
— Gold Cup (@GoldCup) April 10, 2023
These will be the hosts of the 2023 Concacaf #GoldCup matches between June 16 and July 16!
Review the full list 🔗 https://t.co/aSDw4elvv5 pic.twitter.com/vsWGT1QUy7
The 17th edition of the Gold Cup, it’ll be just the fifth edition where there will be tournament games played outside of the US, which has hosted every edition of the tournament in some capacity.
This is huge news for Canada’s Men’s National Team, who enter this summer’s tournament as one of the favourites to win it all, as they chase their second-ever Gold Cup crown. The only team not named the US or Mexico to win this tournament, as they lifted the trophy back in 2000, they are yet to reach the final in the 23 years that have elapsed since.
And should they do it, their path will likely include some games at home, which would be a huge boost for the team, as they continue to build toward the 2026 World Cup, of which they are co-hosts.
Plus, they have some unfinished business at BMO Field, as despite having a sterling record there over the past decade, the only time that they played there at a Gold Cup didn’t go great for them. Coming back in 2015, they drew Costa Rica 0-0 to end off a tournament that saw them finish last in their group with two points in three games, where they scored a grand total of zero goals.
Safe to say, they’ve got loftier ambitions this time around, as goals have typically flowed a little more freely in recent days at BMO Field, such as their 4-1 win over Honduras last month in Nations League, or their 4-0 win over Jamaica last year that booked their qualification to the 2022 World Cup.
CONCACAF will announce a full schedule for the tournament in the weeks to come, but BMO Field is expected to host at least two games, one of them being a Canada group stage match, as was the case in 2015. Plus, the possibility always remains that they could host more, such as a potential quarter-final, although that’d be a bit of a long shot as the last time a Gold Cup knockout game was held outside of the US came all the way back in 2003.
Either way, this is a big chance for Canada to build up some hype at home as they chase a trophy, something that they’ve stated is their big goal this summer, starting with the CONCACAF Nations League finals in June, before shifting their attention to the Gold Cup later that month.
