MIAMI, Florida – The 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup group stage will officially come to a close on Tuesday night, with the final four group games deciding who advances from Groups C and D.
Guadeloupe vs Guatemala
Group D will conclude play on Tuesday night at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey with a tremendously important clash between Guadeloupe and Guatemala. The two sides are tied for first place with four points apiece after defeating Cuba and drawing with Canada, and the potential winner is guaranteed to finish the group in first place.
Guadeloupe dazzled in their last match, defeating Cuba 4-1 thanks to a set of highlight reel goals. Matthias Phaeton’s long-range strike and Anthony Baron’s fancy footwork are perhaps the two finest goals of the tournament so far. It was their first victory in the Gold Cup group stage since the 2009 edition of the competition.
Guatemala managed an important 0-0 draw with Canada to stay ahead of the North Americans. Los Chapines have not yet conceded a goal in the tournament.
This is not the first time these two teams have faced off under such high stakes. They also played one another in the 2021 Gold Cup Prelims, where they tied 1-1 in regulation and Guadeloupe advanced after a dramatic and lengthy penalty shootout.
Guadeloupe have not reached the quarterfinals since 2009, and now are in position to advance with a win or draw.
Guatemala have not qualified for the quarterfinals since 2011, and also will advance with a victory, and could potentially advance with a draw depending on the results of the Cuba-Canada match.
Canada vs. Cuba
Shell Energy Stadium in Houston, Texas will be the site of Group D’s other finale, as Canada take on Cuba.
Canada is focused on securing its fourth consecutive trip to the knockout stages. A multi-goal win wound not only help Head Coach John Herdman’s team advance, but it could also win the top of the group, if Guadeloupe-Guatemala ends in a draw and Canada make up three goals of goal difference.
Canada is searching for its first win in this edition after drawing its first two encounters. A 2-2 draw against Guadeloupe in Toronto was followed by a 0-0 draw against Guatemala in Houston, where the team will remain for its final group match.
Lucas Cavallini scored his sixth career goal in the Gold Cup against Guadeloupe to tie for the all-time leading scorer of Canada with Dwayne De Rosario, Ali Gerba, and Jonathan David. Scoring against Cuba would make Cavallini the highest scoring Canadian in the tournament’s history.
Aricheell Hernandez scored Cuba’s first Gold Cup goal since 2015 in the defeat to Guadeloupe. That edition was also the last time the nation won in the tournament, a drought they’re ambitious to break against Canada.
These two teams last squared off in a Gold Cup in the 2019 group stage in Charlotte, North Carolina, where Canada collected a 7-0 victory.
Costa Rica vs Martinique
The second match of the doubleheader in Harrison, New Jersey sees Costa Rica and Martinique vie for the second qualification place in Group C alongside Panama, who are already through.
Los Ticos have just one point after their first two matches following a 2-1 defeat to Panama and a 0-0 draw with El Salvador. They are in jeopardy of missing the knockout round for the first time since 1998, but Costa Rica do have a shot to advance.
A win over Martinique could secure passage to the next round, though an El Salvador win over Panama in the other game could still deny Los Ticos depending on the goal differential.
It has been a mixture of veterans and youth for Costa Rica, with 21-year-old Aaron Suarez scoring the team’s only goal and major creative contributions coming from Joel Campbell, Celso Borges and Kendall Waston.
Martinique, on the other hand, have a chance to reach the knockout stage for the first time since 2002. Les Matinino have always been competitive at the tournament, but have not pieced together more than three points since that 2002 campaign.
They surprised El Salvador early in the first match, jumping out to a 2-0 lead and holding on to win. Then they followed that performance up with a narrow 2-1 loss to Panama, keeping Los Canaleros at bay for about an hour before eventually being beaten.
A victory for Martinique guarantees a place in the quarterfinals, and a draw leaves them with a good chance as well.
Recent history favors Los Ticos, who scored two wins over Martinique in the latest edition of the Nations League A. Costa Rica won the matches 2-0 at home and 2-1 in Martinique, though they needed two very late goals to turn the away fixture from defeat into a spectacular victory.
Panama vs. El Salvador
The second match of the night in Houston’s Shell Energy Stadium will see Central American foes Panama and El Salvador square off to wrap up Group C.
Panama controls its own destiny to win Group C, which it would do outright with a win or draw against El Salvador. It could also finish first with a loss depending on the result of the Costa Rica-Martinique match.
Los Canaleros last won its group in the 2013 edition, where they went all the way to the final and finished as runners-up. A win would be Panama’s first perfect group stage ever in the Gold Cup.
El Salvador can make life easiest for itself with a multi-goal victory to offset Martinique on goal difference in case of a tie. Advancing would clinch consecutive appearances to the quarterfinals and the first repeat trip to the knockout stage since the 2013 edition.
