Qatar to take part in Concacaf Gold Cup next year

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Qatar will feature in the Concacaf Gold Cup as a guest side at next year’s tournament in the United States. The Gold Cup brings together national teams from North and Central America and the Caribbean and has traditionally been dominated by the United States and Mexico. Asian Champions Qatar had taken part in the tournament in 2021, where they had lost to eventual champions the United States in the semi-finals. Qatar have a busy fixtures lined up next year after they make their World debut at home next month. Felix Sanchez’s men will take part in the Arabian Gulf Cup in January in Iraq and with Qatar are also scheduled to host the 2023 AFC Asian Cup in December. The 17th edition of the Gold Cup will be held from June 16 to July 16. The draw, which will determine the Prelims Round One and Round Two pairings and the Group Stage groups will take place on April 14th, once all the participating nations have been confirmed. CONCACAF also confirmed that next year’s tournament will be preceded by a knockout preliminary competition with 12 teams competing for three spots in the tournament itself. Twelve slots in the competition are earned through CONCACAF’s Nations League competition, while Qatar will return as a guest nation. Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium will host the final. The 70,000 stadium, which is home to the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers and Los Angeles Rams and opened in 2020, will host the deciding game of the 16-nation competition on July 16. The Los Angeles venue is among the favourites to host the final of the 2026 World Cup which is being co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada. New York’s MetLife Stadium and the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium are also reported to be contenders. “SoFi Stadium is a world-class venue and Los Angeles has hosted so many iconic Gold Cup moments, making this stadium a fantastic choice to stage our 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup Final,” said CONCACAF President and FIFA Vice-President, Victor Montagliani. “I am particularly pleased that in addition to announcing such an exciting stadium for our Final, we can also confirm that next year’s Gold Cup will continue to feature a Preliminary Round, allowing even more teams to experience the Gold Cup. This provides more access to top level competition for our members and is very much in keeping with our football first philosophy,” added Montagliani.Qatar beat Honduras in Friendly Qatar defeated Honduras 1-0 in a friendly match on Thursday in Marbella, Spain, as part of its preparation for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. Almoez Ali scored the only goal of the match in the 60th minute, to lead the Qatari team to its third victory this month, after winning against Nicaragua 2-1 and Guatemala 2-0. The Al Annabi had lost second string Croatia side (0-3) and Canada (0-2), before drawing with Chile (2-2) in the friendly matches in September.