For the first time since 1993, the tournament was held in more than one country, with games played in both United States and Mexico.[1] The games were played in Mexico City, Miami, and for the first time in a northern U.S. city, Foxborough. The format of the tournament stayed the same as in 2002: twelve teams were split into four groups of three, the top two teams in each group would advance to the quarter-finals. Colombia and Brazil were invited, with the latter sending an Under-23 team.
The United States' Landon Donovan put four past Cuba in the quarterfinals in a 5–0 win, but the defending champions went out to Brazil in the semi-finals. The South Americans scored a goal in the 89th minute and added a penalty in extra time to win 2–1. Mexico won their first championship since 1998, beating Brazil 1–0 in extra time.
The 12 national teams involved in the tournament were required to register a squad of 18 players; only players in these squads were eligible to take part in the tournament.
The following Gold Cup awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament: the Golden Boot (top scorer), Golden Ball (best overall player) and Golden Glove (best goalkeeper).[3][4][5][6]