Our soccer fandom will be put to the test in 2024 when our teams will compete in five major international tournaments and we'll have tickets (keep an eye on your member emails for W Gold Cup and Copa America information, which should be coming soon)! The men and women will compete for regional and worldly glory as we watch the Yanks play in the W Gold Cup, Concacaf Nations League, Copa America, and Summer Olympics. Here’s a look at these tournaments and how the U.S. teams got into them. 

The first competition on the 2024 calendar is a new trophy to win for the USWNT. In February, Concacaf will launch its  “flagship competition for women’s national teams” in North America, Central America and the Caribbean, the W Gold Cup. This is a standalone championship aiming to elevate all women’s national teams in the region.

The USWNT, as the reigning Concacaf champs and highest-ranked team in the tournament, qualified directly for the tournament. They’re joined in Group A by Mexico, Argentina, and the winner of Preliminary match 2 (Guyana vs. Dominican Republic). Convenient for traveling fans, the USWNT will play all three group matches at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. 

Through a partnership to strengthen both confederations, Concacaf invited the four semi-finalists of the 2022 Copa America Femenina to the W Gold Cup. Brazil is seeded in Group B and will play at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego. Group C (Canada’s group) will play entirely at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston. 

The top two teams in each group plus the two best-performing third-place teams will advance to the knockouts. They’ll be seeded according to points earned. All four quarterfinals will be hosted at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. The semifinals and championship will be played at Snapdragon Stadium. 

Needless to say, 2023 was an unsatisfactory year for the WNT, but they can begin to wash that bad taste out of their mouths with a strong showing in the W Gold Cup.

It’s back again, the Concacaf Nations League Finals. The top four Concacaf teams will compete over one for a trophy only the USMNT has won. 

Concacaf altered the competition a bit this year. Instead of playing a full “league” season, the USMNT only needed to win the two-legged quarterfinal against Trinidad & Tobago. The semifinals and final will be played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. 

First, the USMNT faces Jamaica in the semifinal on Thursday, March 21. The other semifinal is Mexico against Panama. The winners face off in the final on Sunday, March 24. 

For the second time in a decade, the U.S. is hosting Copa America for CONMEBOL. This is the fifth time the USMNT will compete in the South American championship, in fact.

Why are we hosting? Two reasons. Primarily, no CONMEBOL country felt fit to host the tournament. It was Ecuador’s turn to host but they declined, and the U.S. stepped up. This coincided with the Concacaf-CONMEBOL strategic partnership (mentioned above). 

Six Concacaf teams were added to the 10 South American teams. The USMNT qualified by winning its Nations League quarterfinal and earned a seeded spot in Group C as the highest-ranked Concacaf team. 

Group A is headlined by Argentina, Mexico is seeded in Group B, and Group D belongs to Brazil. The top two teams in each group advance to the knockout round.

While a novelty, this tournament serves as the inflection point of a pivotal period for American soccer.

Making their first appearance since 2008 in China, the US U-23 men’s national team will play in the Summer Olympics. Paris 2024 will provide the young group with a unique opportunity to prove themselves.

Men’s teams are restricted to players born on or after January 1, 2000, with three overaged players allowed on the 18-man squad. This tournament will be a crucial showcase for these younger players as the senior USMNT will not play World Cup qualifiers this cycle. 

The U.S. qualified by winning the 2022 Concacaf U-20 Championship — in undefeated fashion. We can expect some of the same players from that victory to compete at the Olympic tournament, but we do not expect that any players regularly on the senior squad will appear.

Though we know that the U.S. will play at the Olympics, we don’t know the whole 16-team field. Both South America and Asia have to execute their qualification tournaments, in February and May respectively. The draw will be conducted sometime after that.

The USWNT has competed at every Summer Olympic Games since the women’s event started in 1996. They’ve racked up six medals in those seven tournaments and could use this summer as a redemption tour like the last time they claimed gold in 2012. 

Unlike the men’s tournament, women’s soccer at the Summer Olympics is a full-senior national team tournament. This isn’t the only difference between the two competitions, as the women’s event is only allowed 12 teams.

The USWNT qualified by winning the 2022 Concacaf W Championship. Like the men’s tournament, the whole field has not been set. The draw will occur after Asia and Africa conclude their qualifying tournaments. 

Make sure you know where your local AO chapter bar is so you can watch the U.S. teams play throughout 2024.