2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup
International football competition
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The 2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup was the inaugural edition of the CONCACAF W Gold Cup, an international women's soccer competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the member associations of CONCACAF. The tournament was contested by twelve teams from February 20 to March 10, 2024 in the United States.[1] Eight CONCACAF national teams qualified for the tournament, joined by four guest teams from CONMEBOL.[2][3]
Our Legacy, Our Cup | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | United States |
| Dates | February 20 – March 10 |
| Teams | 12 (from 2 confederations) |
| Venues | 4 (in 4 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  United States (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Brazil |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 25 |
| Goals scored | 84 (3.36 per match) |
| Attendance | 123,018 (4,921 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Adriana Leon(6 goals) |
| Best player | Jaedyn Shaw |
| Best young player | Olivia Smith |
| Best goalkeeper | Alyssa Naeher |
| Fair play award | United States |
2029 → | |
The hosts United States won the inaugural W Gold Cup title by defeating Brazil 1-0 in the final. The match was played at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, California, on March 10.[4]
Format
On December 10, 2020, the CONCACAF Council approved the structure and calendar of the competition. The qualification competition, known as the "Road to Concacaf W Gold Cup", began with the group stage, featuring 33 women's national teams of CONCACAF split into three leagues (A, B and C). Each league featured three groups, containing three teams each in League A, and four teams each in Leagues B and C. The teams in each group played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The top three teams in League A qualified directly for the W Gold Cup. The group runners-up of League A and the League B group winners participated in a play-in in April 2024 to compete for the final three spots at the W Gold Cup. The two CONCACAF women's national teams that qualified for the Summer Olympics in 2024 (the United States and Canada) received a bye directly to the W Gold Cup, skipping qualification.[3]
The final tournament was held from February 20 to March 10, 2024. Originally, CONCACAF announced the tournament would be played in June 2024, the month prior to the start of the 2024 Olympic women's soccer tournament,[2] but on March 8, 2023, announced it would be moved up to February and March.[1] The W Gold Cup featured twelve teams, including the two teams that qualified for the Summer Olympics, the six teams that qualified from the group stage and play-in, and four guest national teams from South America. The twelve teams were split into three groups of four that competed in a single round-robin. Eight teams, comprising the top two teams of each group and the two best third-placed teams, advanced to the knockout stage. The knockout stage consisted of quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final to determine the champion.[2]
On January 27, 2023, the United States were confirmed as the tournament hosts. In addition, the top four teams from CONMEBOL's 2022 Copa América Femenina – Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, and Paraguay – were confirmed as guests for the tournament.[5]
Venues
The host cities and stadiums were announced on November 29, 2023.
| San Diego, California | Carson, California (Los Angeles Area) |
|---|---|
| Snapdragon Stadium | Dignity Health Sports Park |
| Capacity: 35,000 | Capacity: 30,510 |
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| Houston, Texas | Los Angeles, California |
| Shell Energy Stadium | BMO Stadium |
| Capacity: 22,039 | Capacity: 22,000 |
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Qualification
The league stage of qualification took place in September through December 2023, while the play-in took place in February 2024.[2]
Qualified teams
| Team | Method of qualification |
Date of qualification | FIFA ranking[6] at start of event |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States (host) | 2022 CONCACAF W Championship winner | July 18, 2022 | 2 |
| Canada | CONCACAF Olympic play-off winner | September 26, 2023 | 10 |
 Mexico | Qualification League A Group A winner | December 1, 2023 | 35 |
 Panama | Qualification League A Group B winner | December 3, 2023 | 55 |
 Costa Rica | Qualification League A Group C winner | December 4, 2023 | 43 |
 Puerto Rico | Qualification play-off winner | February 17, 2024 | 103 |
 El Salvador | Qualification play-off winner | February 17, 2024 | 104 |
 Dominican Republic | Qualification play-off winner | February 17, 2024 | 107 |
| Brazil | 2022 Copa América Femenina winners | January 27, 2023[a] | 11 |
 Colombia | 2022 Copa América Femenina runners-up | January 27, 2023[a] | 23 |
 Argentina | 2022 Copa América Femenina third place | January 27, 2023[a] | 31 |
 Paraguay | 2022 Copa América Femenina fourth place | January 27, 2023[a] | 50 |
Notes
- While the semi-finalists of the 2022 Copa América Femenina were confirmed on July 18 (Brazil), July 20 (Colombia and Paraguay) and July 21, 2022 (Argentina), their invitation to participate in the W Gold Cup was not confirmed until January 27, 2023.
Draw
The final draw for the tournament took place on December 11, 2023 in Miami, Florida, United States at 7:00 p.m. EST.[7]
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
Notes
- Team was competing in the qualifying play-offs and was not known at the time of the draw
Squads
Match officials
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Group stage
Tiebreakers
The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, the following criteria were used to determine the ranking:[8]: 24
- Goal difference in all group matches;
- Number of goals scored in all group matches;
- If two or more teams were equal on the basis of the above criteria
- Points obtained in the matches played between the teams in question;
- Goal difference in the matches played between the teams in question;
- Number of goals scored in the matches played between the teams in question;
- Highest-performing in the Fair play ranking;
- Drawing of lots.
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mexico |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | +10 | 7 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | United States (H) |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 6 | |
| 3 | Argentina |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 4 | |
| 4 | Dominican Republic |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 16 | −16 | 0 |
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazil |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | +7 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Colombia |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 1 | +7 | 6 | |
| 3 | Puerto Rico |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 3 | |
| 4 | Panama |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 13 | −12 | 0 |
| Brazil | 1–0 | Puerto Rico |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
| Colombia | 0–1 | Brazil |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
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Group C
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Canada |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | +13 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Paraguay |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 6 | |
| 3 | Costa Rica |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 3 | |
| 4 | El Salvador |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 11 | −9 | 0 |
| Costa Rica | 0–1 | Paraguay |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Chamorro  51' |
| El Salvador | 0–2 | Costa Rica |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
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| Canada | 3–0 | Costa Rica |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Paraguay | 3–2 | El Salvador |
|---|---|---|
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Report |
Ranking of third-placed teams
| Pos | Grp | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | Argentina |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 4 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | C | Costa Rica |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 3[a] | |
| 3 | B | Puerto Rico |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 3[a] |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Fair play ranking; 5) Drawing of lots.
Notes:
Knockout stage
Format
Starting from the quarter-finals, the teams played a single-elimination tournament with the following rules:[8]: 25
- If tied, extra time was played.
- If extra time was played, each team was allowed to make an extra substitution.
- If the score was still tied after extra time, a penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winners.
Ranking of qualified teams
The top two teams from each group and the two best third-place teams advanced to the quarter-finals. The bracket was decided by means of a ranking based on the standings of the eight teams in the group stage, as follows: 1−8, 2−7, 3−6, 4−5.
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Fair play ranking; 5) Drawing of lots.
Bracket
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| March 2 – Los Angeles, CA | ||||||||||
1 Canada (a.e.t.) | 1 | |||||||||
| March 6 – San Diego, CA | ||||||||||
8 Costa Rica | 0 | |||||||||
1 Canada | 2 (1) | |||||||||
| March 3 – Los Angeles, CA | ||||||||||
4 United States (p) | 2 (3) | |||||||||
4 United States | 3 | |||||||||
| March 10 – San Diego, CA | ||||||||||
5 Colombia | 0 | |||||||||
4 United States | 1 | |||||||||
| March 2 – Los Angeles, CA | ||||||||||
2 Brazil | 0 | |||||||||
2 Brazil | 5 | |||||||||
| March 6 – San Diego, CA | ||||||||||
7 Argentina | 1 | |||||||||
2 Brazil | 3 | |||||||||
| March 3 – Los Angeles, CA | ||||||||||
3 Mexico | 0 | |||||||||
3 Mexico | 3 | |||||||||
6 Paraguay | 2 | |||||||||
Quarter-finals
| Canada | 1–0 (a.e.t.) | Costa Rica |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
| Brazil | 5–1 | Argentina |
|---|---|---|
|
Report | Dos Santos 82' |
| United States | 3–0 | Colombia |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
Semi-finals
Final
| United States | 1–0 | Brazil |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
| 2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup champions |
|---|
 United States 1st title |
Awards
The following players and team earned top distinctions:[11]
| Golden Ball | Golden Boot | Golden Glove |
|---|---|---|
| Jaedyn Shaw |
Adriana Leon |
Alyssa Naeher |
| Young Player Award | ||
| Olivia Smith | ||
| CONCACAF Fair Play Trophy | ||
| United States | ||
| Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alyssa Naeher |
Goalscorers
There were 84 goals scored in 25 matches, for an average of 3.36 goals per match.
6 goals
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
Dalila Ippólito- Maricel Pereyra
Adriana- Antônia
- Beatriz
- Debinha
- Duda Santos
- Rafaelle
- Vitória Yaya
Kadeisha Buchanan- Cloé Lacasse
- Evelyne Viens
Manuela Vanegas
Samantha Fisher- Danielle Fuentes
Rebeca Bernal- Jasmine Casarez
- Nicolette Hernández
- Diana Ordóñez
Natalia Mills
Camila Barbosa- Lice Chamorro
- Rebeca Fernández
Madison Cox- Danielle Marcano
Sophia Smith- Lynn Williams
1 own goal
- Carina Baltrip-Reyes (against Colombia)
Source: CONCACAF
Marketing
Broadcasting rights
In the United States, games were broadcast in English by CBS Sports through the Paramount+ streaming service.[13] In Spanish, games were broadcast by ESPN Deportes and ESPN+.[14] In Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America (including Brazil), the broadcast rights were held by ESPN.[13] In India, games were streamed live by Fancode. In Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden), games were broadcast by Viaplay.
Sponsorship
The following were announced as founding partners of the tournament:
- Aramco
- Bodyarmor
- Hilton
- Cerveza Modelo
- Molten
- Neau Water
- Qatar Airways
- Toyota
- Valvoline
Symbols
Match ball
Vantaggio by Molten was used as the tournament's official match ball.
Music
"Woke Up This Morning" by British band A3 served as the main official song of the tournament, using an edited version of the Chosen One Mix, which censored the “got yourself a gun” lyrics.
"Vamos" by Latin American singers Sofía Castro, Fiamma, Alexis Gomez and Pitizion served as the official Spanish-language song of the tournament. They also performed the song live at the final match.
"Natural Born Winners" by American musician Ziggy Sullivin, "Run" by Canadian rock band Our Lady Peace and "One in a Million" by Swedish singer-songwriter Bosson served as secondary theme songs of the tournament, the latter being used for the final match.
Controversies
On March 6, before the semi-final match between Canada and the United States, heavy torrential rain[15] rendered the pitch at Snapdragon Stadium extremely muddy and waterclogged, but the referee Katia García neither suspended nor abandoned the match.[16] ESPN reached out to the CONCACAF federation, which responded that the referee alone would decide if the pitch was unplayable.[17] However, during an interview with CBS, Christina Unkel, a retired USSF referee, implied that the referee would need to consult with the match commissioner.[18] Unkel further stated that García has attempted to show the match commissioner, Monique André of Haïti,[19] that the pitch was indeed unplayable.[18][17]