US men’s national soccer team to make debut in Charlotte this summer for Gold Cup

Alex Zietlow
Updated ·2 min read

Bank of America Stadium will see some history this summer.

The U.S. men’s national team will play in Charlotte for the first time when it battles Nicaragua on July 2. That will be the first of two Gold Cup matches Bank of America Stadium will see that day: USMNT vs. Nicaragua will be at 7 p.m., and Haiti vs. Honduras will take place immediately afterward, at 9 p.m.

The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Associated Football (CONCACAF) made the announcement Tuesday afternoon.

“The honor of hosting the United States men’s national team at such a pivotal moment in the soccer landscape of this country is a testament to the regions deep history of being a soccer hotbed,” Charlotte FC president Joe LaBue said in a release. “This has undoubtedly been reinforced by Charlotte FC’s historic expansion into Major League Soccer and Tepper Sports and Entertainment’s commitment to bringing top class entertainment, including international soccer matches, to Uptown Charlotte.”

Tickets to the doubleheader event will go on presale to Charlotte FC season ticket members on Wednesday and then Panthers PSL owners on Thursday.

Tickets will go on sale to the public on April 25.

This will not be the USMNT’s first live competition in North Carolina. The side has been to High Point and Cary multiple times, most recently at WakeMed Soccer Park for a friendly in March 2018.

It’s also worth noting that the U.S. women’s national team has played in Bank of America Stadium before. That match pitted the USWNT against South Korea in Oct. 2019, a few months after the Americans claimed the World Cup.

Fans drum and wave the Mexican flag during the matchup between Martinique and Mexico at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte on Sunday, June 23, 2019. A similar enthusiasm is expected to return when the international event descends on Charlotte again in 2023.
Fans drum and wave the Mexican flag during the matchup between Martinique and Mexico at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte on Sunday, June 23, 2019. A similar enthusiasm is expected to return when the international event descends on Charlotte again in 2023.

This news comes about a week after CONCACAF announced Charlotte would be one of 14 cities across the U.S. to host the tournament. The July 2 event will be played on natural grass, and it’ll likely see a huge crowd.

Charlotte has hosted a Gold Cup match three times before. The attendances each of those times:

  • 46,012 in 2011 (Costa Rica vs. El Salvador and Cuba vs. Mexico)

  • 55,823 in 2015 (Cuba vs. Guatemala and Mexico vs. Trinidad and Tobago)

  • 59,283 in 2019 (Canada vs. Cuba and Martinique vs. Mexico)

The U.S. men’s national team emerged from the Group Stage but ultimately fell in the Round of 16 in the 2022 World Cup. Charlotte gathered in uptown for a beer-tossing party for the team’s tournament-opening match in November.

The USMNT’s most recognizable player, Christian Pulisic, has actually visited Bank of America Stadium multiple times before. Among those times include when the creative goal-scorer came in 2022 for Chelsea’s friendly against Charlotte FC — a summer night that turned into a milestone for Charlotte FC, for MLS and ultimately for Charlotte’s ascension as a “soccer city.”