Why are Saudi Arabia playing in the Concacaf Gold Cup?
Why does the Gold Cup invite guest teams to play?
The Gold Cup was expanded from 12 to 16 teams from the 2019 edition.Though Concacaf has 41 member nations, it has invited non-member teams to participate in the past.The quality of many of the lower-ranked Concacaf national teams is not high, so guest teams have been used to make it more competitive.The practice was common in the 1990s and early 2000s, before being shelved. It was brought back when Qatar were invited to play in the 2021 and 2023 editions.In total, eight non-Concacaf teams have participated in the Gold Cup. They are: Brazil (1996, 1998, 2003)Colombia (2000, 2003, 2005)Ecuador (2002)Peru (2000)Qatar (2021, 2023)South Africa (2005)South Korea (2000, 2002)Saudi Arabia (2025, 2027)Of those teams, only Brazil have reached the final - losing 1-0 to Mexico in 1996.Qatar reached the semi-finals in 2021 after South Korea did likewise in 2002.Only Mexico, the USA and Canada have won the the Gold Cup since its inaugural edition in 1991. Mexico have won on nine occasions, the USA seven, and Canada only once.This article is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team.
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Ask Me Anything is a service dedicated to answering your questions.We want to reward your time by telling you things you do not know and reminding you of things you do.The team explores everything you need to know and calls upon a network of contacts including our experts and pundits.We answer your questions from the heart of the BBC Sport newsroom, and go behind the scenes at some of the world's biggest sporting events.Our coverage spans the BBC Sport website, app, social media and YouTube accounts, plus BBC TV and radio.
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