No matter what happens with the Chicago Fire in their playoff pursuit, there’s now a guarantee that Soldier Field will play host to at least one high-stakes tournament matchup this year.
Earlier today, CONCACAF announced the group stage schedule for this summer’s Gold Cup, and it has been officially confirmed that the U.S. Men’s National Team will finally return to the Windy City. The USMNT will take on Jamaica in the tournament’s opening game on June 24th.
Our 2023 @GoldCup Group schedule:
🇺🇸 USA vs Jamaica 🇯🇲
📆 June 24
🏟️ Soldier Field, Chicago🇺🇸 USA vs Winner Prelims 9 ⬜️
📆 June 28
🏟️ CITYPARK, St. Louis🇺🇸 USA vs Nicaragua 🇳🇮
📆 July 2
🏟️ Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte pic.twitter.com/LemM3Go3Ux— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) April 18, 2023
The men’s national team hasn’t played at Soldier Field since the 2019 Gold Cup final, a 1-0 loss to Mexico, and the team looks dramatically different than it did on that heartbreaking night in early July. The U.S. Women’s National Team did play a friendly in Chicago later that year, celebrating Jill Ellis’ final game in a draw with Korea.
Over the years, the U.S. has played several historic games at Soldier Field. In 2007, Landon Donovan and Benny Feilhaber scored in a dramatic 2-1 comeback win over Mexico to claim the Gold Cup title. Six years later, in 2013, the men’s national team won the Gold Cup in Chicago again, defeating Panama 1-0 thanks to Brek Shea’s winner. In the past, the national team regularly played friendlies against strong opposition at Soldier Field, but recently this has not been the case.
México y Estados Unidos se han visto las caras en cinco finales de #CopaOro , el saldo favorece al ‘Tricolor’ con cuatro victorias. 🇲🇽 vs🇺🇸
La única vez que el cuadro de las barras y las estrellas se impuso fue el 2007 y lo hizo con este golazo de Feilhaber. pic.twitter.com/Kx15bUYYef
— Arturo de la Sancha (@delasancha_) July 7, 2019
Jamaica has also played at Soldier Field before. In 2016, they played Venezuela in the Copa América group stage and lost 1-0 as Josef Martínez scored the only goal.
June’s match will be the only match at Soldier Field in the entire competition, but it is a very intriguing fixture. What the composition of the U.S. roster will be is yet to be determined, but it can be guaranteed that Jamaica will bring a sneakily good team as they always do.
Full ticketing information will be available closer to the start of the Gold Cup, as well as kickoff times. The U.S. will play their other group stage games just down the road in St. Louis, and in Charlotte.
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