How often is the CONCACAF Gold Cup played? Regular cycle, host for championship tournament and when next one is

The 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup will once again pit the top nations from the North and Central American region against one another in a knockout-style soccer tournament to determine the continental champion.

The United States and Mexico have traditionally dominated the tournament, winning nearly every single title since its inception over 30 years ago.

However, the power dynamics in CONCACAF are always shifting, and the time could be now for another nation to rise up and claim the throne.

Fans may notice that the tournament falls on an odd-number years. This is rare for major international competitions, which often fall on even-numbered years within a four-year World Cup cycle. And didn't they just play the Gold Cup not that long ago?

The Sporting News has all the answers, from how often the tournament is played, to who hosts, who's won it, and what it used to be called.

How often is the CONCACAF Gold Cup played?

In its current format, the CONCACAF Gold Cup is contested every two years.

This makes the tournament "biennial," not, as is often mistakenly used, bi-annual.

CONCACAF has decided to hold its crowning international competition on a different schedule from many other continental championships such as the Euros or Copa America, which are held every four years and situated in the exact middle of each World Cup cycle (although the Copa has been somewhat changeable over recent history).

This wasn't always the case...

History of the CONCACAF Gold Cup

Founded in 1963, the first edition of the CONCACAF championship tournament was, appropriately, known simply as the CONCACAF Campeonato de Naciones, or "Championship of Nations" in Spanish.

CONCACAF had only been founded two years prior, and had only 13 member nations (with one more, Jamaica, joining before the first tournament). Only nine of those countries participated in the first tournament, which was held in El Salvador and won by Costa Rica. The United States, Canada, Cuba, Haiti, and Suriname did not participate.

The tournament was held from that point on every two years, with only six teams qualifying for the competition each time. In 1971, when CONCACAF abolished the tournament and crowned the winner of its dedicated World Cup qualifying competition as continental champions. Thus, the "championship" was only held every four years for a period of two decades.

Then, in 1991, CONCACAF revived the championship tournament and renamed it the Gold Cup, returning to its bienniel format. Since then, it has been held every two years, with one exception — after the 1993 edition, the tournament moved to even-numbered years for a time, meaning there was a three year gap until the 1996 competition. It returned to odd number years in 2003, normalizing the schedule thanks to just a one-year gap. It has been held every two years uninterrupted from that time.

Who hosts the CONCACAF Gold Cup?

Prior to the inception of the Gold Cup, the CONCACAF championship tournament was held all over the confederation. El Salvador hosted the first edition in 1963, while Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Trinidad & Tobago, and Haiti all got a turn before the tournament was shuttered.

Mexico and Honduras hosted the first two World Cup qualifying tournaments in 1977 and 1981, which doubled as the continental championship, until it moved to a home-and-away format where all countries hosted matches.

Since the inception of the Gold Cup in 1991, the United States has hosted every single edition of the tournament. CONCACAF has deemed the U.S. as the most accessible and available host nation, as well as the country with the most usable pitches, and thus, for logistical purposes, keeps it there.

However, some nations have occasionally chipped in. The U.S. joint-hosted with Mexico in 1993 and 2003, and with Jamaica and Costa Rica in 2019. Additionally, Canada joint-hosted in 2015, and have been allowed to host some of their team's early Gold Cup matches over the last two tournaments.

CONCACAF Gold Cup title winners

Border rivals United States and Mexico have dominated the CONCACAF Gold Cup since its revival in 1991, winning every single edition of the tournament except one, when Canada lifted the trophy in 2000.

There have been seven occasions when the United States and Mexico met in the Gold Cup final, with five of those won by Mexico.

Overall, Mexico have won the most Gold Cup titles with nine, while the U.S. has won seven.

Gold Cup champions (since 1991)

* Won title on penalties

CONCACAF champions (prior to 1991)

* Netherlands Antilles have competed as Curacao since 2010.

Note: From 1977-1989, no CONCACAF tournament was held, and the overall World Cup qualifying winner was crowned continental champion. Thus, there was no final. Similarly, from 1963-1973, the winner was the team that topped a final round-robin section.