Currently held every two years in the United States — with an occasional co-host — the reigning champions are Mexico, who beat Jamaica in the 2015 final.
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El Tri have won three of the past four tournaments, with only the USA breaking up their recent dominance and Canada the only nation aside from that big two to have ever won the trophy.
Costa Rica will hope to change that this year, while Honduras and Panama can also be considered outside shots to go all the way.
With the Gold Cup having kicked off on July 7 and running until the final on July 26, Goal has your complete guide to the tournament ahead.
GOLD CUP TV COVERAGE
In the US, the Gold Cup will be available to watch live on Fox in English. Games will be shown across Fox, FS1 and FS2 and can be streamed via Fox Sports Go.
In the UK, BT Sport hold the broadcasting rights to the tournament but will only show a limited number of games. Those that are screened can also be streamed via the BT Sport app.
A complete list of rights holders can be found below.
GOLD CUP GROUPS
The teams that finish first and second in each group progress to the knockout stage automatically.
The teams that finish third in each group are then ranked by points, with goal difference, goals scored and the drawing of lots used as tiebreakers in that order. The top two third-place finishers also progress to the knockout stage.
Group A:
Honduras were awarded a 3-0 win over French Guiana due to the latter fielding an ineligible player. Their match was initially drawn 0-0.
Group B:
Group C:
Ranking of third-place teams:
GOLD CUP FIXTURES & RESULTS
Group A:
*Honduras drew 0-0 with French Guiana before being awarded a 3-0 win due to their opponents fielding an ineligible player.
Group B:
Group C:
Quarterfinals:
Semifinals:
Final:
WHO ARE THE STAR PLAYERS?
As mentioned, Mexico and the USA have won all but one of these tournaments but things could be made more interesting this year due to the fact that both countries have decided to experiment with their squads.
There will be no Javier Hernandez, Andres Guardado or Hector Herrera for the Mexicans, who have selected a group — with one exception — based exclusively in Liga MX as a result of their key players’ participation at the Confederations Cup.
They were dealt a further blow when striker Alan Pulido suffered a fractured arm in a pre-tournament friendly, which resulted in that one exception being called up in Erick Torres of MLS’ Houston Dynamo.
Torres, known as Cubo, has scored 12 goals in 17 games this season and could lead the line in Pulido’s absence, while defender Edson Alvarez is promising.
Bruce Arena has only two players based in Europe in his USA squad: Matt Miazga of Chelsea and Eric Lichaj of Nottingham Forest. Another, Kenny Saief of Gent, pulled out due to an injury.
Young midfielders Kellyn Acosta and Cristian Roldan should provide plenty of energy in the middle of the park, though, and Dom Dwyer may lead the line with the highly touted Jordan Morris struggling for form this season.
Costa Rica should be genuine challengers, particularly as they have picked a strong squad that includes the likes of Joel Campbell , Bryan Ruiz and Bryan Oviedo , though Keylor Navas will sit the tournament out.
Perhaps the most interesting pre-tournament story, however, concerned Florent Malouda (yes, that one). The ex-Chelsea and France midfielder had signed up to play for French Guiana, where he was born, and was believed to be eligible to switch nations because of the fact that the French territory is not a FIFA member and therefore not subject to its rules.
A day before kick-off, though, it was revealed that CONCACAF apply FIFA’s eligibility rules to all of the teams competing in the Gold Cup , meaning Malouda was ineligible to play.
After leaving him out in their first match against Canada, French Guiana named Malouda their captain against Honduras and drew 0-0 but the match was later awarded Honduras as a 3-0 win due to Malouda’s ineligiblity.
That all but eliminated them from the competition as they had lost that first match against Canada, with teen sensation Alphonso Davies proved he is one very much worth keeping an eye on .
Clint Dempsey , Jozy Altidore , Michael Bradley and Tim Howard also joined up with the USA for the knockout rounds, starting the quarterfinal win over El Salvador.
WHO ARE THE FAVORITES?
The USA have won the Gold Cup with a 2-1 victory over Jamaica in the final.
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WHICH STADIUMS WILL BE USED?
Fourteen stadiums have been selected for this year’s tournament. Nine will be used for the group stage, where there will be three matchdays for each group and the two games on each matchday played back-to-back at the same venue.
The other five stadiums will be used for the knockout stage. Two will host back-to-back quarterfinal ties, and the other three will host one match — either one of the two semifinals or the final.
AT&T Stadium:
City: Arlington, TexasCapacity: 100,000Games: Semifinal
FirstEnergy Stadium:
City: Cleveland, OhioCapacity: 67,431Games: Group B (matchday two)
Sports Authority Field:
City: Denver, ColoradoCapacity: 76,125Games: Group C (matchday two)
Toyota Stadium:
City: Frisco, TexasCapacity: 16,000Games: Group A (matchday three)
University of Phoenix Stadium:
City: Glendale, ArizonaCapacity: 63,400Games: Quarterfinals (matchday two)
Red Bull Arena:
City: Harrison, New JerseyCapacity: 25,000Games: Group A (matchday one)
BBVA Compass Stadium:
City: Houston, TexasCapacity: 22,000Games: Group A (matchday two)
Nissan Stadium:
City: Nashville, TennesseeCapacity: 69,000Games: Group B (matchday one)
Rose Bowl:
City: Pasadena, CaliforniaCapacity: 90,000Games: Semifinal
Lincoln Financial Field:
City: Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaCapacity: 69,596Games: Quarterfinals (matchday one)
Alamodome:
City: San Antonio, TexasCapacity: 65,000Games: Group C (matchday three)
Qualcomm Stadium:
City: San Diego, CaliforniaCapacity: 70,561Games: Group C (matchday one)
Levi’s Stadium:
City: Santa Clara, CaliforniaCapacity: 68,500Games: Final
Raymond James Stadium:
City: Tampa, FloridaCapacity: 65,890Games: Group B (matchday two)
