Snapdragon Stadium continues to establish itself as a premier women’s soccer venue, named as host for the final of the new CONCACAF W Gold Cup on March 10.
The 12-team tournament features eight women’s national teams from the CONCACAF region, which includes the United States, Central America and the Caribbean, and four from South America. It’s preceded by a six-team preliminary round in February.
The inaugural event culminates at Snapdragon, which last month hosted a U.S. women’s national team friendly against Colombia and on Saturday hosts the NWSL championship game at 5 p.m. between OL Reign and Gotham FC. The San Diego Wave has set NWSL attendance records and drew an announced crowd of 32,262 for the NWSL semifinal last Sunday.
“San Diego and Snapdragon Stadium will be a tremendous host for our inaugural Concacaf W Gold Cup Final,” CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani was quoted in a news release, “and I want to thank the city and the venue for their commitment to working with us to further grow women’s football in our region.”
The draw is Dec. 11 in Miami to divide the 12 teams into three groups of four. The Feb. 17 preliminary round will determine the final three spots for the Feb. 20-28 group play, from which eight teams advance to a single-elimination knockout stage starting March 2. The semis are March 6 and the final on the following Sunday.
Six nations have already qualified: the United States, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Paraguay.
“When we launched our women’s football strategy, we committed to developing the sport for women and girls at all levels,” Montagliani said. “Much work has been done in the past four years, ranging from delivering more girls football projects in our region and implementing enhanced women’s coaching initiatives in the Caribbean and Central America.
“The Concacaf W Gold Cup is the pinnacle of the women’s game in our Confederation, and it will provide an opportunity to celebrate that progress and commit to doing even more in the future. The tournament will showcase some of the best teams and players in the world, and I can’t wait to see the football unfold next spring.”
