The Golden Jaguars’ path to qualification for the prestigious 2021 Gold Cup Championship will be confirmed on Monday September 28th, as regional confederation CONCACAF will conduct an inaugural draw for the preliminary and group stage sections respectively.
This was disclosed yesterday in an official release from the entity. According to the correspondence, the decision to introduce a draw for the preliminary and eventual group round, was conceptualized to create further unpredictability and anticipation in the tournament.
The release added, “As part of the Confederation’s focus on continuing to deliver a football first philosophy, and to add more anticipation for fans across the region, a first ever Gold Cup draw will take place on September 28th, 2020. Both the Preliminary Round and the Group Stage will be drawn at the event, further details for which will follow in the coming weeks.”
The preliminary round, which will be contested utilizing a direct elimination format, will be staged from July 2nd-6th in a centralized location to be confirmed in the United States. The other 11 teams that will be competing alongside Guyana for the prized three berths in the main tournament are The Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Cuba, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Montserrat, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago.
The nations that have already qualified for the prestigious championship, which is scheduled for the period of July 10th-August 1st, are Canada, Costa Rica, Curacao, El Salvador, Grenada, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, defending champion Mexico, Panama, Suriname and the United States. Qatar, the Asian Cup Champion of the Asian Football Confederation, will compete as a guest in the event, following a major collaboration between the two federations.
The confederation also confirmed the alteration to the knockout format, with the teams competing against each other for the first time from opposite playing brackets. This will occur from the quarterfinal round.
“Additionally, a major change to the Knockout Phase, which follows the Group Stage, will see teams on opposite sides of the bracket meet from the Quarterfinals onwards. In previous Gold Cups, teams have only competed against opponents on the same side of the bracket until the Final. This change will provide more unpredictability and excitement to the competition, which was expanded from 12 to 16 teams for a hugely successful 2019 edition. This is a change from previous Gold Cup tournaments when teams only competed against opponents on the same side of the bracket until the Final”, the release added.
The Golden Jaguars recorded their maiden appearance in the 2019 edition. The Guyanese finished third in their pool, following a record of two losses and a draw. Guyana went down to hosts and eventual runner-up the United States 4-0, before going down to Panama 4-2. In their final match, the Golden Jaguars drew 1-1 with Trinidad & Tobago.
