Jamaica’s ReggaeBoyz got a favourable draw for the first round of the CONCACAF Gold Cup set for next July 2021 after they were drawn to face Costa Rica and Suriname with the fourth team to be added from the qualifying round in Group C.
The draw which was being held for the first time was held in Miami and Jamaica will play from a group that some have called the ‘group of death’ with no clear favourites.
Jamaica had advanced to at least the last four the last three stagings and were back to back finalists in 2015 and 2017 and are among 12 teams that qualified directly for the main draw in the tournament that will start proper on July 10, 2021, after winning their group in the CONCACAF Nations League last year, while three more qualifiers and invited team Qatar will take the final number of teams taking part to 16, the most ever to take part in the continental competition.
Three teams will qualify from a two-round knock-out that will start on July 2 nd.
The winner of game eight in the qualifying round will join Group C and will come from Guatemala, Guyana, Guadeloupe and Bahamas. Defending champions Mexico leads Group A that includes El Salvador and Curacao as well as the winner of game nine of the qualifying round.
Former champions USA heads Group B that will also see Canada and Martinique and the winners of match seven of the qualifying while Honduras are the ranked team in Group D that will see Panama, Grenada and invited team Qatar who were pre-selected for that group.
The top two teams from each of the four groups will advance to the knock-out stages and for the first time in Gold Cup history, teams from opposite sides of the bracket will meet from the quarter-finals onwards.
