The U.S. has been paired with Jamaica and Nicaragua ahead of this summer’s Gold Cup tournament, with one more team to be decided between Caribbean islands St. Maarten, Curacao, St Kitts and Nevis, or department of France — French Guinea. 

The Star and Stripes, led by Englishman Anthony Hudson, are looking to become the tournament’s first back-to-back reigning champions since Mexico in 2009 and 2011. 

Other countries will be trying to break the commonality of a USA-Mexico final for the first time since 2017. That year, the U.S. defeated Jamaica 2-1 at Levi Stadium – home of the San Francisco 49ers – in Santa Clara, California. 

‘The region itself is getting stronger. We just want to keep improving,’ Hudson said ahead of Friday’s anticipated draw. ‘The benchmark for us is winning this again.’ 

Mexico faces Haiti, Honduras and this year’s guest nation, Qatar, in Group B. Costa Rica – who’ve reached the last three World Cups (2022, 2018, 2014) – will play against Panama, El Salvador and either Martinique or St. Lucia in Group C; while Canada will come up against Guatemala, Cuba and either Trinidad & Tobago or Guadeloupe in Group D.

The U.S. has been drawn in a tricky group with Jamaica and Nicaragua in this year’s Gold Cup 

The tournament’s preliminary rounds will be under way on June 16, as 12 teams will face each other to decide who gets to fill in the final three spots of the tournament’s group stage.

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Fifteen stadiums in more than 14 cities will host games across the U.S., essentially in July. Los Angeles is set to host the final at the city’s SoFi Stadium. Games will also be played in St. Louis, San Diego and Cincinnati for the first time in tournament history. 

The full schedule will be announced in the coming days.  The U.S. has 38 wins, one loss and four draws in the Gold Cup group stage. 

The Americans are ranked 13th in the world, Jamaica 63rd, Curaçao 88th. St. Kitts and Nevis 139th and Nicaragua 140th. French Guiana and Sint Maarten are not ranked because they are not FIFA members.

Mexico has eight Gold Cup titles, the U.S. seven and Canada one. No other country has ever won the tournament since its creation in 1991.

The U.S. will come into this year’s edition of the Gold Cup attempting to rebuild its federation’s reputation following a World Cup campaign smeared with blackmail attempts between the family of 21-year-old winger Gio Reyna and former U.S. head coach, Gregg Berhalter. 

Berhalter almost sent Reyna home from Qatar after allegations of attitude problems from the player were leaked. The ex-Columbus Crew coach then went public about his bust-up with Reyna shortly after the Star and Stripes were eliminated from the World Cup’s Round of 16 following a 3-1 loss against The Netherlands.

Berhalter’s contract expired after the World Cup and in March of this year, the U.S. Soccer Federation said an investigation into the dispute with the 49-year-old’s wife had concluded U.S. Soccer was not in the wrong for hiring him as the national team coach. 

The conclusions clarified that there is no legal impediment to employing Berhalter once more and it remains unknown if the former head national team head coach will be on the bench for this year’s Gold Cup. 

Other sites for this year’s tournament include AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina; Soldier Field in Chicago; DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona; Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey; NRG Stadium and Shell Energy Stadium in Houston, Texas ; Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas; and BMO Field in Toronto, Canada.