Concacaf confirms Saudi Arabia as Gold Cup guest team in 2025 and 2027
Concacaf has announced that Saudi Arabia will be a guest team at the Gold Cup in both 2025 and 2027.
Next year's tournament will feature 16 teams, with 15 of those coming from Concacaf. Of those 16, eight have already qualified: Canada, Curaçao, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Mexico, Panama, and the United States.
The Saudis will be the ninth team, with an additional seven spots to be determined via home-and-away playoffs in March. The Gold Cup prelim playoff matches are as follows:
- Costa Rica vs. Belize
- Jamaica vs. St Vincent and the Grenadines
- Honduras vs. Bermuda
- Guatemala vs. Guyana
- Trinidad and Tobago vs. Cuba
- Martinique vs. Suriname
- Nicaragua vs. Guadeloupe
Saudi Arabia will be the second straight World Cup host to be a guest team at the Gold Cup, with Qatar invited to participate in both 2021 and 2023. The Saudis were recently named hosts of the 2034 tournament.
“We are very pleased that through our relationship with the Asian Football Confederation we have been able to collaborate with the Saudi Arabian Football Federation and their President Yasser Al-Misehal, both on and off the pitch, and we look forward to welcoming one of Asia’s top men’s national teams to compete with the best in Concacaf," Concacaf President Victor Montagliani said.
Concacaf and the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) are also set to collaborate on best practices with the United States, Mexico and Canada serving as co-hosts of the 2026 World Cup.
"It is a great privilege to represent the Asian Football Confederation in this prestigious tournament," said SAFF President Yasser Al-Misehal.
"Representing your country overseas is an honor all Saudis take very seriously, especially in the year before our friends at Concacaf help stage the FIFA World Cup 2026. As a FIFA World Cup host nation, this learning opportunity is a responsibility that SAFF will wholeheartedly embrace."