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NEW YORK - The CONCACAF Gold Cup will visit six new stadiums and four new cities in 2011, expanding the confederation championship in its 20th anniversary year.

While the tournament will return to Dallas Cowboys Stadium to open the championship on June 5, it also will play in Detroit (Ford Field); Tampa, Florida (Raymond James Stadium); Charlotte, North Carolina (Bank of America Stadium); and Kansas City, Kansas (KC Soccer Stadium), before concluding with the title match at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

Games also will be played at Red Bull Arena and the New Meadowlands Stadium outside New York City, both of which opened in 2010.

Familiar venues such as The Home Depot Center in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California, will again be the site for matches, as well as Chicago's Soldier Field - site of the 2007 final, Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington, Houston's Reliant Stadium and FIU Stadium in Miami.

"We are very excited about our cities and venues," CONCACAF General Secretary Chuck Blazer said. "Each will add a distinct flavor to the event and will help make this the best Gold Cup to date."

The New Meadowlands Stadium, site of friendlies this past year for the United States and Mexico, and RFK will stage quarterfinal doubleheaders while Houston will be the venue for the semifinals.

The schedule announced Thursday repeats the practice - started in 2009 - of playing the Gold Cup in 13 different stadia, but in two fewer cities than two years ago.

Six cities that staged games two years ago return in 2011: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Miami and Washington, but with new or more venues in New York and Los Angeles.

North American sides Canada, defending champion Mexico and the United States are qualified automatically for the Gold Cup, and will be joined by Digicel Caribbean Cup champion Jamaica as well as regional rivals Guadeloupe, Cuba and Grenada. Central America will determine its five qualifiers at the Copa Centroamericana January 14-23 in Panama.

The match calendar and ticket information for the Gold Cup are scheduled to be announced in early February.


Group Stage
Sunday, June 5
Dallas Cowboys Stadium - Arlington, Texas

Monday, June 6
Home Depot Center - Carson, California (Los Angeles)

Tuesday, June 7
Ford Field - Detroit

Thursday, June 9
Bank of America Stadium - Charlotte, North Carolina

Friday, June 10
FIU Stadium - Miami

Saturday, June 11
Raymond James Stadium - Tampa, Florida

Sunday, June 12
Soldier Field - Chicago

Monday, June 13
Red Bull Arena - Harrison, New Jersey (New York)

Tuesday, June 14
KC Soccer Stadium - Kansas City, Kansas

Quarterfinals
Saturday, June 18
New Meadowlands Stadium - East Rutherford, New Jersey (New York)
Sunday, June 19
RFK Stadium -- Washington

Semifinals
Wednesday, June 22
Reliant Stadium -- Houston

Final
Saturday, June 25
Rose Bowl - Pasadena, California (Los Angeles)