MIAMI – Concacaf Tuesday announced that 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup final has been awarded to Las Vegas and Allegiant Stadium, the destination’s newest state-of-the-art sports venue.

The Aug. 1 championship match will crown the best men’s national team in the confederation. This will be the first time a Gold Cup match is played in Las Vegas in the event’s 30-year history.

“At Concacaf we are very excited about this summer’s Gold Cup and we know that Las Vegas and Allegiant Stadium will provide a great host city and venue for the final,” Concacaf president Victor Montagliani said in a statement, adding. “2021 is Concacaf’s 60th anniversary year making this edition extra special for players and fans. The federations and their teams are looking forward to this tournament with great anticipation and it is fitting that the regional champion will be crowned in such an outstanding venue and famous city.”

The Gold Cup will kick off with a new Preliminary Round (Prelims) at DRV PNK Stadium, home of Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami CF, between July 2-6. In the Prelims, 12 nations that qualified through their Concacaf Nations League performances will compete for the final three spots in the 16-team group stage.

The Round One and Two Prelims matchups were drawn on Sept. 10.

The group stage will begin July 10 and will feature 16 national teams; Canada, Costa Rica, Curaçao, El Salvador, Grenada, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico (defending champion), Panama, Suriname, United States, Qatar (guest nation and current AFC Champion) and the three Prelims winners.

The groups for the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup were also drawn on Sept. 10 and are as follows:

Group A: Mexico, El Salvador, Curacao and Winner Prelims 9

Group B: USA, Canada, Martinique and Winner Prelims 7

Group C: Costa Rica, Jamaica, Suriname and Winner Prelims 8

Group D: Honduras, Panama, Grenada and Qatar.

The top two finishers in each group will advance to a knockout stage, which for the first time in competition history see teams on opposite sides of the bracket meet from the quarterfinals onwards. The knockout stage will be played as follows:

Quarterfinal #1: Winner Group D vs Second Place Group A

Quarterfinal #4: Winner Group B vs Second Place Group C

Quarterfinal #2: Winner Group A vs Second Place Group D

Quarterfinal #3: Winner Group C vs Second Place Group B

Semifinal #1: Winner Quarterfinal #1 vs Winner Quarterfinal #4

Semifinal #2: Winner Quarterfinal #2 vs Winner Quarterfinal #3

Final: Winner Semifinal #1 vs Winner SF #2

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.