For the US and Canada, the road to Rio de Janeiro will go through one another.
The Americans and Canadians were drawn together on Tuesday in CONCACAF’s Olympic Qualifying tournament, joining Panama and Cuba in Group A. Mexico leads Group B, with Honduras, Haiti and the winner of the Costa Rica-Guatemala playoff rounding out the group.
The eight Under-23 teams will compete in the Oct. 1-13 qualifying tournament for CONCACAF's two automatic berths in next summer’s Olympics. The top two teams from each group will advance to the semifinals, with the two finalists automatically qualifying for the Rio games. The third-place finisher will also have a shot to compete in Brazil, facing Colombia in a playoff with a trip to the Olympics on the line.
Group A matches will be played at Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan., and Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo. The first two rounds will be played at Sporting Park on Oct. 1 and 3, while the Group A finales will be contested at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Oct. 6.
Group B will play its first two rounds at StubHub Center on Oct. 2 and 4 before moving to Colorado for their final matchday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Oct. 7.
The knockout rounds will be played at Real Salt Lake’s Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy Utah, with the semifinals set for Oct. 10 and the final and third-place game scheduled for Oct. 13.
The US failed to qualify for the 2012 Olympics, getting bounced from the CONCACAF Qualifying tournament in the group stage. Mexico and Honduras advanced to the London games, with Mexico winning the Gold Medal and Honduras reaching the quarterfinals.
