Rio Tinto Stadium to serve as host for 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup for the first time

Rio Tinto Stadium and CONCACAF announced on Wednesday that Rio Tinto Stadium will serve as a host site for this summer’s 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

The dates and Gold Cup games that Rio Tinto Stadium will host will be released in March.

Rio Tinto Stadium has never before hosted a Gold Cup match and will be one of eight venues to host CONCACAF’s top tournament for the first time this summer.

The seven other venues set to host its first Gold Cup matches this summer are: Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Ga.; M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md.; Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver, Colo.; Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn.; BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston, Texas; Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. and JELD-WEN Field in Portland, Ore.

Thriteen venues have been selected to host the 2013 tournament, which will run from July 7-28.

The event will also return to five venues from its previous editions including Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX; Soldier Field in Chicago, IL; Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA; Red Bull Arena in Harrison, NJ; and CenturyLink Field in Seattle, WA.

To date, eleven of the twelve participating national teams have qualified for this year’s tournament. In alphabetical order: Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Trinidad & Tobago and the United States. The final spot will be decided on Friday in the fifth-place match of the 2013 UNCAF Copa Centroamericana between Guatemala and Panama, which is being held in Costa Rica.

Read the full press release here.