CONCACAF announced on Tuesday that Sporting Park will host the following Group A doubleheaders during the 2015 Men’s Olympic Qualifying Championship:
Thursday, Oct. 1 (tickets)
Cuba vs. Panama 5:30 p.m. CT
USA vs. Canada 8 p.m. CT
Saturday, Oct. 3 (tickets)
Canada vs. Panama 1:30 p.m. CT
USA vs. Cuba 4 p.m. CT
Tickets will go on sale at 12 p.m. CT on Wednesday, Aug. 19 for the 2015 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship matches at Sporting Park. Fans can purchase tickets, while supplies last, through Ticketmaster.com, by phone at 1-800-745-3000 and at all Ticketmaster ticket centers in the Kansas City area.
Sporting Kansas City Season Ticket Members will be guaranteed seats for all four games by using Special Games B (Oct. 1) and Special Games C (Oct. 3) in their season ticket packages.
CONCACAF conducted the tournament’s official draw on Tuesday to determine the four national teams placed in Group A and the four nations which will compete in Group B. Both 2015 CONCACAF Men’s Olympic Qualifying Championship finalists will secure berths in the 2016 Summer Olympics, while the third-place finisher advances to a playoff against Colombia in a final opportunity to reach the Olympic Games in Rio.
Countries qualify for the Olympic Games using under-23 national teams (players born in 1993 or later). The U.S. U-23 MNT features three players who played in the 2014 FIFA World Cup: John Brooks (Hertha BSC), Julian Green (Bayern Munich) and DeAndre Yedlin (Tottenham).
"Now we know what's ahead of us," U.S. Under-23 MNT head coach Andi Herzog said. "It's an interesting group and strong group and we want to win and advance. Canada we've looked at and we know they have some strong players in MLS. Panama is also strong and Cuba, we saw this summer in the Gold Cup, has some young players we expect to face in this tournament. In the end it's an interesting group and we're excited."
Sporting Park is one of four host venues for the tournament along with the StubHub Center (Carson, California), Dick's Sporting Goods Park (Commerce City, Colorado) and Rio Tinto Stadium (Sandy, Utah). The state-of-the-art stadium in Kansas City, Kansas also served as the site of the semifinals and championship matches in the previous CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship in 2012.
