The biennial North American, Central American, and Caribbean soccer tournament CONCACAF Gold Cup will return to Levi’s Stadium this summer, in advance of the Santa Clara venue hosting the 2026 World Cup.

We learned last summer the very big deal sports news that Levi’s Stadium would be hosting some 2026 World Cup matches, though not all of those World Cup matches will be at Levi’s Stadium. In fact, they won’t even all be in the United States. That upcoming World Cup tournament will be a sort of “group host” North American format with games being played in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, and only a handful of matches being played at Levi’s Stadium.

Keep that structure in mind, as on Monday, it was announced that Levi’s Stadium will be hosting CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament games this summer, according to the Bay Area News Group. Those matches are scheduled between  June 16 and July 16 this summer, though the specific dates and matches are not yet announced.

If you’re not familiar, the CONCACAF Gold Cup is a continental championship, and unlike the every-four-years World Cup, this Gold Cup is played every two years. The acronym CONCACAF stands for Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, as the competing countries are all North American, Central American, and Caribbean national teams.

Image: EOZyo via Wikimedia Commons

You’ll often hear the World Cup described as the “FIFA World Cup,” with the “FIFA” referring to the French name Fédération internationale de Football association. But FIFA is broken down into six regional bodies, and as seen above, CONCACAF is the United States' region.

Levi’s Stadium is one of 15 American stadiums that will be hosting these matches this summer. The teams and groupings for the tournament are scheduled to be announced Friday, and the schedule and ticket information will be announced in the days to follow. According to the Bay Area News Group, “The last Gold Cup match held at Levi’s was the 2017 final, a 2-1 United States win over Jamaica with more than 63,000 fans in attendance.”

Related: Levi's Stadium Will Be a Host Site for the 2026 World Cup [SFist]

Image: Levi’s Stadium