Board 8 > 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup [July 10 - August 01]

(+) Yeah! (+)

Group Stage Summary through Game 2:

Group A
6PT 4GF 0GA +4GD [2W-0D-0L]El Salvador
4PT 3GF 0GA +3GD [1W-1D-0L]Mexico
1PT 0GF 2GA -2GD [0W-1D-1L]Trinidad & Tobago
0PT 0GF 5GA -5GD [0W-0D-2L]Guatemala

Group B
6PT 8GF 02GA +6GD [2W-0D-0L]Canada
6PT 7GF 01GA +6GD [2W-0D-0L]United States
0PT 1GF 05GA -4GD [0W-0D-2L]Haiti
0PT 2GF 10GA -8GD [0W-0D-2L]Martinique

Group C
6PT 5GF 2GA +3GD [2W-0D-0L]Costa Rica
6PT 4GF 1GA +3GD [2W-0D-0L]Jamaica
0PT 2GF 5GA -3GD [0W-0D-2L]Guadeloupe
0PT 1GF 4GA -3GD [0W-0D-2L]Suriname

Group D
6PT 7GF 2GA +5GD [2W-0D-0L]Honduras
4PT 7GF 3GA +4GD [1W-1D-0L]Qatar
1PT 5GF 6GA -1GD [0W-1D-1L]Panama
0PT 0GF 8GA -8GD [0W-0D-2L]Grenada

---

On Sunday, Group B matchups are first, followed by Group A:

Group B: United States vs. Canada
Group B: Martinique vs. Haiti

Group A: Mexico vs. El Salvador
Group A: Guatemala vs. Trinidad & Tobago

Knockout Stage Setup:

Quarter-Finals
QF1 = D1 vs. A2
QF2 = B1 vs. C2
QF3 = A1 vs. D2
QF4 = C1 vs. B2

Semi-Finals
SF1 = QF1 vs. QF2
SF2 = QF3 vs. QF4

Final
F = SF1 vs. SF2

---

The Empty Bracket!


---

That was fast

---

Thank god Larin didnt have any composure there

---

Group B: Martinique 1 - 2 Haiti
Group B: United States 1 - 0 Canada

If it wasn't for the goal in the first 20 seconds, the USA didn't do much of anything in that game. And the second half was dominated by Canada, and the USA was lucky enough to keep Canada off the scoreboard, just barely.

Group B
9PT 8GF 01GA +7GD [3W-0D-0L]United States
6PT 8GF 03GA +5GD [2W-0D-1L]Canada
3PT 3GF 06GA -3GD [1W-0D-2L]Haiti
0PT 3GF 12GA -9GD [0W-0D-3L]Martinique

---

The updated Bracket with USA and Canada added:


---

Group A: Mexico 1 - 0 El Salvador
Group A: Guatemala 1 - 1 Trinidad & Tobago

Mexico definitely played better than USA did, but, the result was still the same 1-0 scoreline. Perhaps things will open up in the Knockout Stage, with the one and done mentality of each game?

---

Let's not forget about the Group A final standings, plus the updated bracket:

Group A
7PT 4GF 0GA +4GD [2W-1D-0L]Mexico
6PT 4GF 1GA +3GD [2W-0D-1L]El Salvador
2PT 1GF 3GA -2GD [0W-2D-1L]Trinidad & Tobago
1PT 1GF 6GA -5GD [0W-1D-2L]Guatemala



---

Tonight closes out the Group Stage with the final 4 matches:

Group C: Costa Rica vs. Jamaica
Group C: Suriname vs. Guadeloupe

Group D: Honduras vs. Qatar
Group D: Panama vs. Grenada


---

I don't pay much attention to soccer other than having it seared into my memory that Honduras is the team that knocks Canada out pretty much every world cup qualifying. So nice that we'll be able to avoid them in the quarterfinals, not so nice as I think Costa Rica's a better team (so ideally Jamaica can pull an upset in today's game...?)

As a CONCACAF-related sidenote, if anyone wants to go on a trip down memory lane, check out the 2000 Gold Cup wiki:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_CONCACAF_Gold_Cup

Not only having to win the play-off to actually get in, but moving on by a literal coin toss... and then winning the entire tourney. I don't remember this when it happened but 2000 was a long time ago, that must have been ridiculous (and incredible)

Maybe this time will be different for Canada in World Cup Qualifying?

It is using an expanded set of teams for main round: 8 instead of 6
Mexico, USA, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Honduras, Canada, El Salvador, Panama

Where Canada, El Salvador and Panama all advanced through Rounds 1[Group Stage of 30 Countries split into 6 groups] & 2[2 Game Aggregate Stage], while the top 5 got automatic qualification based on FIFA rankings with a bye to Round 3.

And that increases the game total from 10 to 14.

With the condensed schedule, I'm curious how that's going to work for each country:
3 Games in September 2021
3 Games in October 2021
2 Games in November 2021
3 Games in January 2022
3 Games in March 2022

And if I remember correctly, the Inter-confederation Playoffs are sometime in June 2022 for the 4th Place team.

Yeah, for that 2000 one, it is the only tournament for any country not being USA or Mexico to win. A coin toss is the worst way to go, all down to 50-50 luck. Bleh.

---

In lieu of coin tosses, I remember reading about FIFA rankings being used as a final tiebreaker, not sure if that was ever deployed? or if I'm making that up? But if that were the case, at January 2000, South Korea was 52nd and Canada was 80th so they would've lost that tiebreaker. Which is even more incredible to think the 50/50 chance leads to the win... well, and a beautiful golden goal back when that was a thing.

Yeah I saw it was 8 teams instead of 6 for qualifying this time so that's nice that Canada could get this far, but not exactly brimming with hope and optimism when there's 5 teams that get bye'd in ahead of them and only 3+1 that qualify. I always just assume Mexico-U.S.-Costa Rica make it outside a fluke (like the U.S. last time) and the rest are battling out for the playoff, and crossing fingers they don't draw the CONMEBOL playoff team...

Dark Silvergun posted...

Yeah, for that 2000 one, it is the only tournament for any country not being USA or Mexico to win.

For the "Gold Cup", yes, but when it was called the "CONCACAF Championship", Costa Rica, Honduras, Haiti and Guatemala all won.

---

Group Stage Summary:

Group A
7PT 4GF 0GA +4GD [2W-1D-0L]Mexico
6PT 4GF 1GA +3GD [2W-0D-1L]El Salvador
2PT 1GF 3GA -2GD [0W-2D-1L]Trinidad & Tobago
1PT 1GF 6GA -5GD [0W-1D-2L]Guatemala

Mexico 0 - 0 Trinidad & Tobago
El Salvador 2 - 0 Guatemala

Trinidad & Tobago 0 - 2 El Salvador
Guatemala 0 - 3 Mexico

Mexico 1 - 0 El Salvador
Guatemala 1 - 1 Trinidad & Tobago

Group B
9PT 8GF 01GA +7GD [3W-0D-0L]United States
6PT 8GF 03GA +5GD [2W-0D-1L]Canada
3PT 3GF 06GA -3GD [1W-0D-2L]Haiti
0PT 3GF 12GA -9GD [0W-0D-3L]Martinique

Canada 4 - 1 Martinique
United States 1 - 0 Haiti

Haiti 1 - 4 Canada
Martinique 1 - 6 United States

United States 1 - 0 Canada
Martinique 1 - 2 Haiti

Group C
9PT 6GF 2GA +4GD [3W-0D-0L]Costa Rica
6PT 4GF 2GA +2GD [2W-0D-1L]Jamaica
3PT 3GF 5GA -2GD [1W-0D-2L]Suriname
0PT 3GF 7GA -4GD [0W-0D-3L]Guadeloupe

Jamaica 2 - 0 Suriname
Costa Rica 3 - 1 Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe 1 - 2 Jamaica
Suriname 1 - 2 Costa Rica

Costa Rica 1 - 0 Jamaica
Suriname 2 - 1 Guadeloupe

Group D
7PT 9GF 03GA +06GD [2W-1D-0L]Qatar
6PT 7GF 04GA +03GD [2W-0D-1L]Honduras
4PT 8GF 07GA +01GD [1W-1D-1L]Panama
0PT 1GF 11GA -10GD [0W-0D-3L]Grenada

Qatar 3 - 3 Panama
Honduras 4 - 0 Grenada

Grenada 0 - 4 Qatar
Panama 2 - 3 Honduras

Honduras 0 - 2 Qatar
Panama 3 - 1 Grenada

---

Knockout Stage Bracket:


---

Qatar vs the US could be fun

---

How do you pronounce Qatar? Ive heard cutter and kah tar

---

Me too. I believe it's something closer to the former, but even locals use either pronunciation.

For me I never actually say cutter, always kah-tar.

---

Qatar vs. USA could definitely happen.

Kah-tar is the pronunciation I'm familiar with hearing myself.

---

Results for Nations Eliminated through the Group Stage:


---

Matches for Saturday:
Qatar vs. El Salvador
Mexico vs. Honduras

Matches for Sunday:
Costa Rica vs. Canada
United States vs. Jamaica

---

Game Summary heading into the Quarter-Finals Matches on Saturday:

Qatar vs. El Salvador

Qatar
[0W-1D-0L] 3-3 vs. Panama
[1W-1D-0L] 4-0 vs. Grenada
[2W-1D-0L] 2-0 vs. Honduras

El Salvador
[1W-0D-0L] 2-0 vs. Guatemala
[2W-0D-0L] 2-0 vs. Trinidad & Tobago
[2W-0D-1L] 0-1 vs. Mexico

Mexico vs. Honduras

Mexico
[0W-1D-0L] 0-0 vs. Trinidad & Tobago
[1W-1D-0L] 3-0 vs. Guatemala
[2W-1D-0L] 1-0 vs. El Salvador

Honduras
[1W-0D-0L] 4-0 vs. Grenada
[2W-0D-0L] 3-2 vs. Panama
[2W-0D-1L] 0-2 vs. Qatar

---

Qatar 3 - 2 El Salvador
Mexico 3 - 0 Honduras

At first, it looked like it was all over when Qatar went up 3-0, but then El Salvador came to life after the hour mark to bring the game within 1 goal. A 3rd goal almost came, until it was called for offside, and El Salvador just couldn't find an answer. 7 additional minutes of stoppage time was allowed, but, Qatar held on to it's slim 3-2 advantage to win the game.

Mexico remained level with Honduras until 25 minutes in, and then found 2 more goals before the first half expired. Honduras had a few chances to score, but came up empty, allowing Mexico's 3-0 half time lead be the final score to the game.

---

The updated bracket:


---

Results for Nations Eliminated through the Saturday's Quarter-Finals:


---

Game Summary heading into the Quarter-Finals Matches on Sunday:

Costa Rica vs. Canada

Costa Rica
[1W-0D-0L] 3-1 vs. Guadeloupe
[2W-0D-0L] 2-1 vs. Suriname
[3W-0D-0L] 1-0 vs. Jamaica

Canada
[1W-0D-0L] 4-1 vs. Martinique
[2W-0D-0L] 4-1 vs. Haiti
[2W-0D-1L] 0-1 vs. United States

United States vs. Jamaica

United States
[1W-0D-0L] 1-0 vs. Haiti
[2W-0D-0L] 6-1 vs. Martinique
[3W-0D-0L] 1-0 vs. Canada

Jamaica
[1W-0D-0L] 2-0 vs. Suriname
[2W-0D-0L] 2-1 vs. Guadeloupe
[2W-0D-1L] 0-1 vs. Costa Rica

---

Speaking as a casual viewer, it would be pretty embarrassing for the continent if Qatar wins the whole thing.

---

I think only Mexico would be truly embarrassed. I think the US team should be embarrassed but wont really be

---

I find it is pretty hard to embarrass the USA

---

Go my Canada missing most of their top players. Semi-finals would be a great result here.

---

Costa Rica 0 - 2 Canada
United States 1 - 0 Jamaica

USA and Canada have both advanced!

While Canada got on the scoreboard a lot sooner in the 18th minute, USA was held scoreless all the way until the 83rd minute.

With the elimination of Costa Rica and Jamaica, also meant the elimination of Group C as well.

Remaining countries by Group:
Group A: Mexico
Group B: United States, Canada
Group D: Qatar

---

oh damn, I didn't expect that at all.

Now if only Canada can upset Mexico and Qatar the U.S., a Canada/Qatar final... shades of 2000???

Results for Nations Eliminated through the Sunday's Quarter-Finals:


---

A Qatar vs. Canada final? Now that would be an interesting matchup.

At this point, all sorts of crazy things could happen on Thursday.

---

The bracket, all Quarter-Final matches complete:


---

So, it's finally time to find out who goes to Las Vegas on Sunday starting around 5ish hours for the first game.

Game Summary heading into the Semi-Finals Matches on Thursday:

Qatar vs. United States

Qatar
[0W-1D-0L] 3-3 vs. Panama
[1W-1D-0L] 4-0 vs. Grenada
[2W-1D-0L] 2-0 vs. Honduras
[3W-1D-0L] 3-2 vs. El Salvador

United States
[1W-0D-0L] 1-0 vs. Haiti
[2W-0D-0L] 6-1 vs. Martinique
[3W-0D-0L] 1-0 vs. Canada
[4W-0D-0L] 1-0 vs. Jamaica

Mexico vs. Canada

Mexico
[0W-1D-0L] 0-0 vs. Trinidad & Tobago
[1W-1D-0L] 3-0 vs. Guatemala
[2W-1D-0L] 1-0 vs. El Salvador
[3W-1D-0L] 3-0 vs. Honduras

Canada
[1W-0D-0L] 4-1 vs. Martinique
[2W-0D-0L] 4-1 vs. Haiti
[2W-0D-1L] 0-1 vs. United States
[3W-0D-1L] 2-0 vs. Costa Rica

---

okay gotta sweat out 9 mins

---

I would favor Mexico slightly.....like 55/45. The US keep grinding out these 1-0 victories but I gotta think Mexico are gonna score.

---

did someone watch the Mexico/Canada game? I'm still not clear on the stoppage time situation there, how much did the ref call for and how long did it really last? As soon as i saw 90+9' for the final goal I thought it was extra time and then realized that's stoppage time... a ridiculous absurd amount of stoppage time.

Well news reports say Canada did great and were actually the better team most of the game so, that's nice. Maybe they won't be as hopeless in World Cup qualifying as I thought and could actually squeak in...

The Mexican fans started a big anti-gay chant so the match was paused, and there was a long VAR check that lead to a penalty for Mexico. Buchanan's goal was a thing of beauty for Canada. I don't know if I'd say Canada was the better team, though perhaps a different outcome if they didn't play in Mexico would have been possible. It can certainly feel a bit slimy to lose on stoppage time VAR penalty and a stoppage time play caused by the fans chanting abusive hatespeech.

---

I think the stoppage time for the Mexico vs. Canada game ended around 14.5 minutes.

---

Qatar 0 - 1 United States
Mexico 2 - 1 Canada

Yeah, USA keeps getting those 1 goal victories, and it makes the 6-1 win over Martinique look like an outlier.

The end of the Mexico vs. Canada game was definitely *something* to put it mildly. For Canada to lose so late in the match, especially with the way the game was that close to approaching the end of regulation with a 1-1 scoreline.

---

Results for Nations Eliminated through the Thursday's Semi-Finals:


---

The bracket, all Semi-Final matches complete:


---

Game Summary heading into the Final on Sunday:

United States vs. Mexico

United States: 10GF 1GA +9GD 15PT
[1W-0D-0L] 1-0 vs. Haiti
[2W-0D-0L] 6-1 vs. Martinique
[3W-0D-0L] 1-0 vs. Canada
[4W-0D-0L] 1-0 vs. Jamaica
[5W-0D-0L] 1-0 vs. Qatar

Mexico: 9GF 1GA +8GD 13PT
[0W-1D-0L] 0-0 vs. Trinidad & Tobago
[1W-1D-0L] 3-0 vs. Guatemala
[2W-1D-0L] 1-0 vs. El Salvador
[3W-1D-0L] 3-0 vs. Honduras
[4W-1D-0L] 2-1 vs. Canada

---

Tonights the night

---

Kind of hope U.S. gets shut out so Canada will be the only team to score on Mexico

I will take that as an absolute win

(also Canada beats Qatar in a theoretical 3rd place match in my mind)

Gooooooooool

---

Fuck yeah

---