Why is Saudi Arabia in the CONCACAF Gold Cup?

Saudi Arabia, a member of the Asian Football Confederation, is one of 16 teams in the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

CONCACAF stands for the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football and is the organizer of the Gold Cup, which dates back to 1991.

So why is Saudi Arabia, a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), in a competition meant for North American, Central American and Caribbean teams?

In December 2024, CONCACAF announced Saudi Arabia as an "invited guest" to the 2025 and 2027 Gold Cup, shortly after the Gulf nation was announced as the host of the 2034 World Cup.

Four months prior, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) signed a multi-year deal with CONCACAF, detailed as a “strategic partnership which will support the confederation in developing all levels of football across our region," according to CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani.

According to The Athletic, CONCACAF and PIF will "collaborate on football development and CSR initiatives, and significant knowledge sharing between the region that will host the 2026 World Cup and the nation which has recently been awarded hosting rights for the 2034 global showpiece.”

One development already to come from this agreement is Aramco, a Saudi Arabian-owned oil company, becoming CONCACAF's “official energy partner” for all its teams and competitions.

So with the partnership between Saudi Arabia and CONCACAF in place since the back-end of 2024, it's no surprise to see the them invited to the Gold Cup.

It's not the first time a non-CONCACAF team has been invited to play in the Gold Cup, either.

Eight different non-CONCACAF teams, detailed below, have been invited guests in the Gold Cup. Since 2005, there have only been two - Qatar (2021, 2023) and Saudi Arabia (2025, 2027). Between 2007 and 2019, the Gold Cup exclusively featured CONCACAF teams.

History of invited guests at the Gold Cup

Team	Confederation	Years invited
Saudi Arabia	AFC	2025, 2027
Qatar	AFC	2021, 2023
South Africa	CAF	2005
Colombia	CONMEBOL	2000, 2003, 2005
Brazil	CONMEBOL	1996, 1998, 2003
South Korea	AFC	2000, 2002
Ecuador	CONMEBOL	2002
Peru	CONMEBOL	2000

Saudi Arabia is in Group D at the 2025 Gold Cup, along with the United States, Trinidad and Tobago, and Haiti.

The USMNT and Saudi Arabia face off in matchday two of the group stage on Thursday, June 19 at 9:15 PM ET from Q2 Stadium in Austin, Texas.