Saturday’s CONCACAF Cup soccer game between the U.S. and Mexico at the Rose Bowl is sold out, with a crowd of more than 90,000 expected, organizers announced today.
“This is one of the biggest soccer games to be played on North American soil since the 1994 World Cup and the fans have certainly responded,” said CONCACAF acting General Secretary Ted Howard.
Fans applied online for the right to purchase tickets via a lottery system. A supplemental ticking process was held for supporters groups of the U.S. and Mexican teams.
Mexican fans have traditional outnumbered their U.S. counterparts in games between the teams in Southern California.
“One of our goals for this game was to make the Rose Bowl a representation of both passionate fan bases,” Howard said.
“The interest and demand for an event of this magnitude requires a process that allows for an opportunity for a fair and equitable distribution of tickets.”
Standout Mexican forward Giovani dos Santos will miss the game because of a muscle strain suffered in the Los Angeles Galaxy’s 1-1 tie with Seattle Sounders FC in a Major League Soccer game on Sunday, a Galaxy official said today.
Organizers are encouraging fans to arrive early and car pool. Parking for vehicles with four or more passengers will be $25. The general parking rate is $40.
Parking lots will open at 2 p.m. A Fan Fest will be held on the Brookside Golf Course driving range with music, food and autograph sessions from soccer legends beginning at 2 p.m.
Shuttle bus service will run from the Parsons Engineering building in Old Town Pasadena to the stadium.
There will be ticket check points for all vehicles entering the Rose Bowl parking lots on Saturday. Those without a ticket will not be permitted into the stadium area.
The winner will be the CONCACAF representative in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, a tournament played every four years in the year before the World Cup in the host nation of the World Cup.
The eight-team field in the Confederations Cup consists of the champion of each of FIFA’s six regional federations, the reigning World Cup champion and the host nation, which in 2017 will be Russia.
In April 2013, the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, soccer’s governing body for the region, announced the split of the region’s berth in the Confederations Cup between two editions of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, assuring both editions of the region’s national team championship in each four-year cycle have the same importance from a competitive perspective.
The U.S. won the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup, while Mexico won the 2015 edition.
