US coach Jurgen Klinsmann stressed the importance of his team defending the Gold Cup title on home soil Thursday as the groupings and draw for next July's football tournament were revealed.

The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) announced final details for the biennial event, which opens July 7 and concludes July 26 at the home of Major League Soccer's Philadelphia Union.

The Americans blanked Panama 1-0 in the 2013 final for their fifth Gold Cup crown and as a result gave themselves an edge in the fight to represent North America at the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia.

The 2013 and 2015 Gold Cup winners meet to determine which will qualify for the Confederations Cup, a tuneup event one year before Russia hosts the World Cup.

Klinsmann would just as soon have his squad repeat as champions and eliminate the need for such a matchup.

"We badly want to win this tournament because we want to qualify for Russia 2017. This is huge to us," Klinsmann said. "The best way to do this is to win this summer so we avoid a playoff game in October."

The US team will be joined in Group A by Haiti and Panama as well as the winner of a playoff between French Guyana and Honduras. Group matches, contested in double-headers, will be staged July 7 at Dallas, July 10 at Boston and July 13 at Kansas City.

"Right away it puts you on your toes and you have to start the competition focused, concentrated and determined from the first game," Klinsmann said. "Having Panama in there -- who we played the final against in the last Gold Cup -- and most likely Honduras are very strong teams. We also have a close look at Haiti."

Canada, whose 2000 title is the only Gold Cup crown not taken by Mexico or the US squad, is in Group B with Jamaica, Costa Rica and El Salvador. Matches will be July 8 at Los Angeles, July 11 at Houston and July 14 at Toronto, the first Gold Cup matches ever staged outside US or Mexican venues.

Six-time Gold Cup champion Mexico tops Group C, which also includes Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba and Guatemala and features matches July 9 at Chicago, July 12 at Phoenix and July 15 at Charlotte.

Quarter-final double-headers will be contested July 18 at Baltimore and July 19 at New York while the semi-finals will be in Atlanta on July 22.