By Official Florida FC

CONCACAF announced Monday afternoon that Fort Lauderdale’s DRV PNK Stadium will host Gold Cup matches this summer.

Fort Lauderdale is one of 14 host cities for the 16-team tournament that will kick off in June. It is the first time since 2013 that the biennial continental tournament will be played in South Florida. Back then, Hard Rock Stadium hosted a doubleheader that featured Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti, Honduras and El Salvador.

“The host cities and venues we have selected all have strong track records of hosting elite football, and world class events, Concacaf President and FIFA Vice President, Victor Montagliani, said in a statement.  “I want to thank each and every one of them for their commitment to Concacaf, to our Gold Cup, and to our sport. This is a tremendous time for football in the region with Nations Leagues, men’s and women’s Gold Cups, and other exciting national team and club competitions taking place over the next three years as we head towards the FIFA World Cup 2026.”

This is the second straight Gold Cup that will play at least one match in the Sunshine State.

Orlando hosted six matches in the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Only one of those matches, Costa Rica’s 1-0 win of Jamaica, drew more than 10,000 spectators. However, those games were during a period when Covid-19 cases were exponentially rising in Florida.

The USMNT last played a Gold Cup match in Florida in the 2017 tournament. It nearly threw away a two-goal lead in the group stage to Martinique in the rain at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium.

Fixtures for this year’s Gold Cup are slated to be released later this week.