Canada learned its group for the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup in the tournament’s draw on Thursday night. The Canadian men’s national team were drawn into Group B with Honduras, El Salvador and Curaçao. The top two teams from each of the competition’s four groups advance to the knockout rounds. Honduras, at 75th, are Canada’s highest-ranked opponents by FIFA, while El Salvador rank 81st, and Curaçao are ranked 90th. Canada are currently ranked 30th, the highest ranking in the men’s national team’s history. For just the second time in the tournament’s history, Canada will play matches on home soil, as BC Place in Vancouver has been confirmed to be a group stage host for the competition. Canada entered the 2025 Gold Cup draw as the second-ranked team to 2024-25 Concacaf Nations League Champions Mexico in the Concacaf rankings. The Canadian men’s national team is making its 17th appearance in the competition, and remains the only nation to win the tournament outside of the United States and Mexico, doing so in 2000. The 2025 Gold Cup kicks off on June 14, with the final to be played on Sunday, July 6. As Canada’s last competitive competition before co-hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup, there is added importance to this year’s competition in terms of tournament preparations and squad evaluation under competitive pressure.
Written by:Mitchell Tierney