Why is Saudi Arabia playing at the CONCACAF Gold Cup? Invited 'guest nation' spot explained

Fans tuning in to watch their favorite North American national team play at the 2025 Gold Cup may notice a team from across the globe taking part in the traditionally closed competition.

Held every two years, the Gold Cup is the continental championship for the North American federation, CONCACAF.

As such, it's jarring to see a team such as Saudi Arabia participating given it will have taken Herve Renard's side quite the flight to arrive for the competition.

The Sporting News explains why Saudi Arabia are participating in the Gold Cup, which has a deep history of inviting nations from outside the federation to take part.

MORE: Breaking down the USMNT roster for 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup

Why is Saudi Arabia playing at the CONCACAF Gold Cup?

While serving as the North American confederation's bi-annual championship tournament, the CONCACAF Gold Cup has looked to raise its global profile by inviting a number of non-member guest participants over the years.

For the 2025 edition of the Gold Cup, the lone "invited" team is Saudi Arabia, who are contesting the tournament for the first time.

Starting in 1996, the North American confederation invited a guest nation for each of the first six editions of the tournament. After taking a 16-year break from this, they returned to the practice in 2021 and 2023 with upcoming World Cup hosts Qatar invited to join.

For the 2025 edition, Saudi Arabia will take part, and they will also compete in the 2027 tournament.

In addition to securing access to a more global audience, inviting outside nations also helps from a numbers perspective. With there being 15 CONCACAF qualifiers at the Gold Cup from the 41 member nations, adding a guest participant helps keep the tournament a tidy competitive environment without the need for creativity in the bracket or group setup.

When does Saudi Arabia play the USMNT?

For the 2025 tournament, Saudi Arabia were drawn into the same group as hosts United States, creating significant intrigue for the early stage of the competition, which often sees the biggest CONCACAF teams walk through the group stage with little trouble.

Saudi Arabia schedule for 2025 Gold Cup

Performance by Gold Cup guest participants

Since the Gold Cup's inception in 1991, CONCACAF has invited a total of eight different non-member nations to participate as guests in nine different editions of the competition.

Guest participants have traditionally performed very well, with six of them at least reaching the knockout stage, while four made at least the semifinals.

However, to date, no guest participant has ever won the CONCACAF Gold Cup, including Brazil, who have taken part in the competition three different times. They finished second twice and third once, often bringing a second-tier roster to compete in the tournament.

Performance of CONCACAF Gold Cup guest participants

Results of CONCACAF Gold Cup guest participants by event