Everything You Need to Know About the 2017 Gold Cup

Mexico and the USA will be the favorites to be crowned champions when the nations of North and Central America and the Caribbean meet.

GOAL (Oliver Platt)

The top teams in North and Central America and the Caribbean will battle it out for continental supremacy this summer as the Gold Cup returns for its 14th edition.

Currently held every two years in the United States — with an occasional co-host — the reigning champions are Mexico, who beat Jamaica in the 2015 final.

El Tri have won three of the past four tournaments, with only the USA breaking up their recent dominance and Canada the only nation aside from that big two to have ever won the trophy.

Costa Rica will hope to change that this year, while Honduras and Panama can also be considered outside shots to go all the way.

With the Gold Cup set to kick off July 7 and run until July 26, have your complete guide to the tournament ahead.

GOLD CUP GROUPS

Group A:

Group B:

Group C:

Ranking of third-place teams:

GOLD CUP FIXTURES & RESULTS

Group A:

Group B:

Group C:

Quarter-finals:

Semi-finals:

Final:

WHO ARE THE STAR PLAYERS?

As mentioned, Mexico and the USA have won all but one of these tournaments but things could be made more interesting this year due to the fact that both countries have decided to experiment with their squads.

There will be no Javier Hernandez, Andres Guardado or Hector Herrera for the Mexicans, who have selected a group — with one exception — based exclusively in Liga MX as a result of their key players' participation at the Confederations Cup.

They were dealt a further blow when striker Alan Pulido suffered a fractured arm in a pre-tournament friendly, which resulted in that one exception being called up in Erick Torres of MLS' Houston Dynamo.

Torres, known as Cubo, has scored 12 goals in 17 games this season and could lead the line in Pulido's absence, while defender Edson Alvarez is promising.

Bruce Arena has only named two players based in Europe in his USA squad: Matt Miazga of Chelsea and Eric Lichaj of Nottingham Forest.

Even some of America's top MLS-based players, such as Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley, have also been left at home — at least until the knockout stage, when each team is able to make six changes to their squad.

Young midfielders Kellyn Acosta and Cristian Roldan should provide plenty of energy in the middle of the park, though, and Dom Dwyer may lead the line with the highly touted Jordan Morris struggling for form this season.

Costa Rica should be genuine challengers, particularly as they have picked a strong squad that includes the likes of Joel Campbell, Bryan Ruiz and Bryan Oviedo, though Keylor Navas will sit the tournament out.

Then there is Florent Malouda — yes, that one. The ex-Chelsea and France star has signed up to play for his birthplace of French Guiana, who he is eligible to switch to because of their status as a territory of France and non-FIFA association.

WHO ARE THE FAVORITES?

Mexico and the USA are rated very similarly, with the former narrow favorites according to some bookmakers at about 27/20 compared to the Americans' 7/4.

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Costa Rica follows after that at around 6/1, with Panama rated at 20/1. Then there is a group of three outside shots between 33/1 and 60/1 in Honduras, Jamaica and Canada, with the other five teams rank outsiders of 150/1 or longer.

WHICH STADIUMS WILL BE USED?

Fourteen stadiums have been selected for this year's tournament. Nine will be used for the group stage, where there will be three matchdays for each group and the two games on each matchday played back-to-back at the same venue.

The other five stadiums will be used for the knockout stage. Two will host back-to-back quarterfinal ties, and the other three will host one match — either one of the two semifinals or the final.