Concacaf announced today the calendar of the preliminary round of the 2021 Gold Cup where they will be defined in the latter classified in the competition, Being the Selection of Guatemala is the only one in Central America who will be at this stage against Caribbean combined to be able to be in the contest of the area.
According to reports, the preliminary round will be performed in the Miami Inter Stadium in the United States, Thus giving the official start of the Gold Cup and with the aim that the participating selections can be in the same place, to have a better control of the hygiene protocols tomando considering that the pandemic is following.
In this edition of 2021 will be the first time that Concacaf include the preliminary phase prior to the group stage. There will be a total of 12 teams looking to win the last three tickets for the Gold Cup, who already know their groups, round that it will begin in July and partly in August.
Guatemala will be the only Central American to be in the preliminary round, as determined in a draw his first rival will be Guyana, To overcome it will have to play in front of the winner of the crossing of Guadalupe versus Bahamas, To win both phases will be located in the Group C, where they are Costa Rica, Jamaica and Suriname.
This will be the calendar of the Preliminary Phase of the Gold Cup:
First Round: July 2 and 3
Pairing # 1: Haiti vs. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Pairing # 2: Guatemala vs Guyana
Pairing # 3: Trinidad and Tobago vs Monserrat
Pairing # 4: Cuba vs. French Guiana
Pairing # 5: Guadeloupe vs. Bahamas
Pairing # 6: Bermuda vs. Barbados
The six winners of the first round will qualify for the second round and will play as follows:
Second Round: July 6
Match # 7: Winner Match # 1 vs Winner Match # 6
Pairing # 8: Winner Pairing # 2 vs Matching Winner # 5
Match # 9: Winner Match # 3 vs Winner Match # 4
The winner of each of the three matches of the second round will advance to the Group Stage of the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup, for which they were drawn in Groups A, B and C, as follows:
Group A: Mexico, the Savior, Curaçao and Preliminary Round Winner # 9
Group B: United States, Canada, Martinique and Preliminary Round Winner # 7
Group C: Costa Rica, Jamaica, Suriname and Round Winner Preliminary # 8
Group D: Honduras, Panama, Granada and Qatar