2011 Gold Cup Groups Announced: USA In Same Group As Canada

The draw for the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup was postponed once, but it has taken place and it gives the United States easily the simplest route to the final, while Mexico finds themselves in the toughest group. The U.S. gets three teams that they should handle rather easily and three teams that all failed to make it to the final round of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. On the flip side, Mexico drew arguably the third-best team in CONCACAF in Costa Rica and another team that made it to the final round of qualifying, El Salvador. On top of that, if Mexico wins their group, they will play the winner of Group B in the semifinals, while the U.S. will not see a group winner until the final.

The tournament begins on June 5 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas where Mexico and El Salvador will play the second match of a double-header after Costa Rica and Cuba. The four Group A teams will then play double-headers in Charlotte, N.C. and Chicago, Ill. to close out their group stage play.