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The United States women were drawn with Mexico and Argentina for next year's inaugural Concacaf W Gold Cup, which will take place in February and March of 2024.
The draw pits the USWNT against regional Concacaf rivals Mexico and the 2022 Copa America Femenina third-place finisher Argentina in Group A, with a fourth team to be determined based off results of the qualification playoffs.
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Copa America Femenina champion Brazil is set for a replay of their 2022 final against Colombia in the Group B, and in the final group of the tournament, Concacaf W Championship finalist Canada will take on Copa America Femenina fourth-place finisher Paraguay.
The first-ever Concacaf W Gold Cup will have a total of 12 teams, which includes four CONMEBOL invitees: Brazil, Colombia, Argentina and Paraguay, who all qualified through their top-four finishes in the Copa America Femenina.
The stage is set! These are the groups for the 2024 W Gold Cup! ⭐ pic.twitter.com/7MUkWssKKT
— W Gold Cup (@GoldCup) December 12, 2023
The USWNT qualified as winners of the Concacaf W Championship, while Canada booked their place after defeating Concacaf W Championship third-place finisher Jamaica in an Olympic playoff series in September.
Mexico, Panama and Costa Rica earned Concacaf W Gold Cup invites after topping their respective groups in a recently completed qualifying round.
Three final Concacaf spots have yet to be decided through next February's single-leg qualification playoffs. The winners of Haiti vs. Puerto Rico (Prelims Winner 1), El Salvador vs. Guatemala (Prelims Winner 2), and Guyana vs. Dominican Republic (Prelims Winner 3) will earn entry into the group stage.
All Group A games will be held between Feb. 20-26 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
In Group B, Brazil, Panama, Colombia and the winner of Haiti vs. Puerto Rico will take part in matches from Feb. 21-27 at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, California.
And in Group C, Canada will play Costa Rica, Panama and the winner of El Salvador vs. Guatemala from Feb. 22-28 at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston.
The top two from each group, along with the two best-ranked third place finishers, will then qualify for the knockout round that begins with the quarterfinals on March 2 and 3 at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. The semifinals (March 6) and final (March 10) will then return to San Diego's Snapdragon Stadium.
Ahead of the tournament, single-leg qualification playoff games will be held at Dignity Health Sports Park's Track and Field Stadium on Feb. 17.
The USWNT will head into the Concacaf W Gold Cup with interim coach Twila Kilgore still overseeing the team. Kilgore will be an assistant to incoming U.S. manager Emma Hayes, who is finishing the season as coach of Chelsea in the Women's Super League before taking over for the Americans ahead of the summer.[
Earlier this month, the United States and Mexico announced a bid for the 2027 Women's World Cup, which would take place one year after the joint men's World Cup hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Jamaica, which finished third in the Concacaf W Championship and recently exceeded expectations with a knockout-round position in the Women's World Cup, had a number of players that withdrew from qualification for the Concacaf W Gold Cup in October due to "constant mistreatment" from their governing federation and not receiving "full and correct" payments.
Without many key players, Jamaica was unable to qualify for the upcoming inaugural tournament.
2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup draw
Group A: United States, Mexico, Argentina, Prelims Winner 3
Group B: Brazil, Panama, Colombia, Prelims Winner 1
Group C: Canada, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Prelims Winner 2
Source: espn.co.uk