Preview and predictions of the CONCACAF

Gold Cup 2021

Like most of the known world, the football world was ripped apart by Covid-19 and 2021
CONCACAF Gold Cup had to be rescheduled from July next year to take place
between 10 th July and 1 st August 2021.

Twelve teams will qualify through the 2019-20 CONCACAF Nations League and four
through the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup. As the host nation of Qatar will participate in
the 2021 and 2023 tournaments as part of their preparation for the 2022 World Cup,
only three teams will qualify for the 2021 edition through the qualification competition.

CANADA

73rd place in the world by FIFA Canada hopes that their participation in the
CONCACAF Gold Cup has little to do with their ranking, especially as they will host the
2026 World Cup. Much is expected of a squad full of experience and potential.

Experienced Tosaint Ricketts, a 33-year-old striker with Vancouver Whiecaps, has

scored 17 goals for his country in 61 appearances and his nowse will be much needed
as well as Cardiff City's Julian Hoillet front goal prowess. However, all eyes will be on
Bayern Munich attacking defender Alphonso Davies, still only 18, UCL winner.

Liverpool will also be interested in watching the progress of their youngster, Liam Miller,
who spent a very successful loan spell with Kilmarnock before calling him back and then
resisting loan requests from several top-tier European clubs to borrow him.

HONDURAS

Honduras have qualified for two FIFA World Cup finals since the Millennium, 2010 and
2014, which is in keeping with their pre-eminence in their own backyard, the Central
American Cup of which they are four-time winners, the latest being was 2017.
62nd place in the world by FIFA Honduras were unbeaten in four pre-Covid national
teams; They won 2-0 in Trinidad and followed by beating Martinique 1-0.

A 1-1 draw with the same opponent was followed by Trinidad's 4-0 before the pandemic
stopped world football.

Honduras have several important players who could bring them to Qatar; Real
Sociedad's Danilo Tobias, although he has only played once, at 28 has a lot of valuable
experience while Boavista's Jorge Benguche with two goals in three games for his
country is a threat that cannot be ignored. Alberth Elis, still only 24, has an impressive
return goal for his country of 10 in forty-two appearances. The winger helped Honduras
to fourth place in the 2016 Olympic soccer competition and alongside him is 33-year-old
striker Jerry Bengston who has an impressive 21 international goals in 55 games, nearly
a goal every other game. .

GRENADA

Ranked 159 in the world Grenada never qualified for a World Cup final, but came
second in the Caribbean Cup in 1989 and 2008. That performance 12 years ago gave
the small nation its first qualifier for a major competition. international, the CONCACAF
Gold 2009 Cup.

Before world football hit the bumpers, Grenada put together a fair number of
achievements; They drew 0-0 away to French Guiana before beating 1-0. A 0-0 draw
with St Kitts was followed by their best performance and the result, in four games, a 3-2
win over Belize. That win came courtesy of a hat-trick from impressive midfielder Jamal
Charles, 24, of Real Sociedad, who brought his national team goal tally to 14 of 22 with
that triple.

JAMAICA

Jamaica have built a decent record over the past five years, including second place in
this competition in 2015 and 2017. The national team also reached the group stage of
the Copa America in 2015 and 2016. However, Jamaica's six games in the competition
they have all been defeated although they fared better in their backyard by winning the
Caribbean Cup three times since 2008 and finishing second once.
Their star player is Anderlecht full-back Kemar Lawrence, signed by the New York Red
Bulls. He has been selected 53 times since 2013. Fulham midfielder Bobby
Decordova-Reid is another one of whom a lot is expected in qualifying.

Despite being ranked only 48 th in the world, Jamaica has an impressive Gold Cup
record having been second twice and fourth most recently in 2019.

UNITED STATES

23rd ranked rd in the world the USA will feel the heat to succeed in this competition and
reach Qatar if only pushed by the very successful US women's team, current world
champions, just last year.

The United States has an excellent record in its own confederation and has won this
competition five times since 2002, most recently in 2017. The men's team has appeared
in 10 FIFA World Cup finals and hopes Qatar will be number 11.

After hosting the 1994 World Cup, the United States qualified for five consecutive World
Cups, sharing that record with seven other nations. After winning the Gold Cup six
times, the US will have a lot of optimism to reach Qatar.

The US federation will be delighted with the news that protagonist Christian Pulisic has
almost recovered from his recent hamstring injury. The Chelsea striker was a revelation
in the Premier League and is precisely the kind of game changer that can bring the
United States to the 2022 World Cup. Juventus midfielder Weston Mc Kennie, with six
goals in 19 appearances, is expected to provide support at Pulisic, as well as expert
Jozy Altidore, 42 goals in 115 appearances.

MEXICO

Following their record 11 th success in this competition in 2019, Mexico is rightfully

considered the gold cup favorite and Qatar as one of only six nations to qualify for
consecutive World Cups since 1994. Only Brazil can match their own. record of passing
the qualifying stages of the last seven final races. Mexico is historically the most
successful team in the CONCACAF federation.
There is almost the perfect blend of youth and experience in the current squad.
Monterrey's Miguel Lagun, 32, has scored six goals in his 72 appearances and Ajax
midfielder Edson Alvarez, 22, at the other end of the age scale, have youth and
experience as he has already won 32 appearances. . And if there was ever 'one to
watch' it would be 23-year-old Guadalajara midfielder Uriel Antuna who has a striker
rate of seven goals in his 13 appearances to date.

Even more exciting is 21-year-old striker Jose Juan Macias who has exploded onto the
international stage with four goals in five games.

Oh, Mexico can also call on Hector Herrera of Atletico Madrid and a Raul Jimenez of
the Wolves.

Yes, Mexico is the team to beat and to bet on.

THE SAVIOUR

The best result in the Gold Cup was second place in 1981, although El Salvador
finished 4 th then 5 th in 1985 and 1989. But only in 2017 did they reach the
quarter-finals. The national team has a better parochial record in the Central American
and Caribbean games where they won gold twice, 1954 and 2002.

They have few non-home players; Darwin Ceren is a 30-year-old Houston Dynamo
midfielder. He had 59 appearances while Denis Pineda, also a midfielder, with Estoril,
has 26 caps for the national team.

El Salvador became the first Central American team to reach a World Cup final when
they qualified for Mexico 1970. They were also the first team in the region to qualify
twice when they reached the 1982 tournament in Spain.

COSTA RICA

Third highest ranked FIFA Gold Cup nation, 46 th , Costa Rica reached its first World
Cup in 1990. Since then it has achieved an impressive five out of eight finals, not bad
for a nation of just 5 million.
That appearance in Italy `90 followed the CONCACAF title in 1989, but it is in the Copa
Centralamericana where they are prominent. They won the title on their first
appearance, in 1991, and in all they have won eight out of 14 appearances to rightly be
hailed as Central America's most successful nation ever. They are the only nation in the
region to have reached five final world cup races, their best result was Brazil 2014,
where they overtook their group which had three former world champions behind them;
Uruguay, Italy and England.

Most of the Costa Rican squad are MLS-based even though Manfred Ugale, an
18-year-old striker for Belgian club Lommel, has just won his first appearance. Keylor
Navas is their most experienced player, the PSG goalkeeper has 91 appearances while
Celso Borges, of Deportivo La Coruna, is a midfield threat with 23 goals in his 130
international caps.

CURACO

Considering that Curaco was ranked 183 th place in the world just six years ago to
increase by over one hundred positions to 80 th , it speaks volumes about their
development on the international scene. They first entered the CONCACAF Gold Cup in
2017 and reached the quarter-finals two years later.

Their recent playing record shows only one defeat, 2-1 to Costa Rica, at home, even
though they played 0-0 with the same opponents. They also drew 1-1 with Haiti and
beat them 1-0.

Brothers Leandro and Juninho Bacuna both carry on their business in the UK, Cardiff
and Huddersfield respectively, while 18-year-old PSV goalkeeper Tyrick Bodak has a lot
of potential. A third UK-based player is 24-year-old Coventry winger Gervane Kasta
Neer.

MARTINIQUE

Martinique's best performance, ranked 95 by FIFA, in the Gold Cup saw them reach the
quarter-finals in 2002 where they lost 6-5 on penalties to Canada. The nation's best
performance on the international stage was when it won the Caribbean Cup in 1993
after winning its CFU championship precursor twice.
Defender Jordy Delem, a 27-year-old midfielder with the Seattle Sounders, is
Martinique's most high-profile player with 46 appearances and seven international
goals, having competed for his country in the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2013, 2017 and
2019.

Arguably his highlight, and his country, was when he scored one of Martinique's two
goals when they narrowly lost 3-2 to Mexico last year.

SURINAME

Suriname is currently ranked 141 st in the world, a drop of sixty positions, their highest
position of 84, which was in 2008.

The nation has collected two appearances in the Gold Cup, the first in 1977, when he
obtained the best result, 6 th place.

One of the founding members of CONCACAF, IN 1961, Suriname won the CFU in 1978
and ranked second the following year.

It is a nation famous for producing world-class players such as Ruud Gullit, Frank
Rickaard, Clarence Seedorf and the Liverpool duo of Virgil van Dijk and Georginio
Wijnaldum.

Suriname has never qualified for a World Cup final. Their best result was in 1978 when
they reached the final group stage. On 19 th November 2019 Suriname qualified for the
2021 edition of the Gold Cup by beating Nicaragua 2-1. This will be their debut in the
actual competition and their first appearance in a CONCACAF tournament since 1985.

Their best-known player is 25-year-old Slovan Bratislava, central defender Myenty

Abena. Although he is yet to be crowned, he has won the Slovak FA Cup twice, with
several clubs, Spartak Trnava and his current team, in the following years.

PANAMA

Ranked 81 st in the world it was a real fall from grace for Panama because just six years
ago they were 29 th years old . It was 2014 and four years later they appeared at their
first World Cup, Russia 2018. Although they failed to get out of the group stage, they
managed their first World Cup goal, against England, which eliminated the winners for 6
times. 1.

By then Panama had achieved its best result in the Gold Cup, 2005 and 2013, when it
finished second in the United States on both occasions.

Their best-known player is 34-year-old skipper Roman Torres, the Seattle Sounders
defender who has won 119 appearances and scored ten goals for the national team that
are anything but sleazy.

QATAR

The hosts for the 2022 FIFA World Cup will compete as guests in the Gold Cup as part
of warm-up preparations for the first-ever Arab finals.

It took Qatar 10 years to reach the current FIFA ranking of 55, although in recent years
they have slipped to 51 st in 1993.

When they host the next World Cup it will be their country's debut and it will be the first
time that a host nation will debut without ever competing in a World Cup.

Qatar came close to qualifying for France in 1998 but, needing to win the last game
against Saudi Arabia, lost 1-0. They then won seven games and lost only one of their
qualifying matches for Russia 2018, but in the third round they finished their group at
the bottom of the group ensuring a scrupulous wait for a first World Cup final at home.

The protagonist of Qatar will be the 36-year-old striker and top scorer, the Uruguayan
Sebastian Soria. He tops the Qatar scorecard with 40 goals in 123 international
appearances and still holds the record for fastest ever AFC Champions League goal,
NINE seconds, set in 2013, when playing for Lekhwiya.