FirstEnergy Stadium to host more CONCACAF Gold Cup matches in 2019

In 2017, FirstEnergy Stadium hosted a doubleheader for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, a soccer tournament that is played every two years. After a good turnout, CONCACAF announced that today, “through the partnership of the Browns, Greater Cleveland Sports Commission and City of Cleveland, Cleveland is one of 15 venues named as a host site for the 15th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup” in 2019.

Specific dates, times, and the games will be determined at a later today. Cleveland was fortunate enough to host the U.S. Men’s National Team (USMNT) in 2017 for one of the games, but given the amount of teams in the tournament and group stages, that is not a given.

For the past decade, I’ve been very excited about the USMNT, but it is still very deflating to know they didn’t qualify for the upcoming World Cup. They are in the midst of nothingness — some friendlies, no head coach, and likely a revamp of the roster. But the Gold Cup will represent the start of their rebirth, so-to-speak.

In other soccer news, the U.S. Women’s National Team will host China in a friendly match at FirstEnergy Stadium on June 12.