Gold Cup: USMNT draw Panama, Haiti, possibly Honduras in difficult Group A

Jurgen Klinsmann, US national team (Nov. 18, 2014)

The US national team's path to the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup title – and an automatic berth in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup – will likely not be an easy one after the US were grouped with Panama, Haiti and the winner of this month's Honduras-French Guiana playoff.



Honduras surprisingly finished fifth at the 2014 Copa Centroamericana, forcing them into the playoff, but they have qualified for the last two FIFA World Cups and made the Gold Cup semifinals in four of the five tournaments from 2005-2013. Panama have made the Gold Cup final twice in that span, losing to the US in 2005 and 2013, and a Honduras win over French Guiana would mean three of the four semifinalists from 2013 would be in the same group.


The US open the Gold Cup tournament on July 7 at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, taking on either Honduras or French Guiana (an overseas territory of France which is not a member of FIFA and has never previously qualified for the Gold Cup).



The US continue on July 10 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, taking on Haiti, which finished third at the 2014 Caribbean Cup.


Group A play concludes on July 13 at Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kansas, with the US playing against Panama in the second game of a doubleheader.



Should the US place in the top two of Group A, they would play in the Gold Cup quarterfinals at Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium on July 18. A third-place finish would see them play the winner of Mexico's Group C at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on July 19.


The semifinals will be played in Atlanta's Georgia Dome on July 22, with the third-place match and final both in Philadelphia on July 25 and July 26 at PPL Park and Lincoln Financial Field, respectively.


The US have a rich history at the tournament and have won three of the last five regional titles (2005, 2007, 2013).