Canadian National Soccer Team | Photo: Canadian Soccer Federation
One of the hosts, Canada, as well as Guatemala and Costa Rica reached the quarter-finals of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Football Associations (CONCACAF) Gold Cup on Tuesday.
The Canadian national team defeated the Cuban national team 4-2 (2-1) in the final match of Sub-group D, achieving its first victory of the tournament, which was enough to enter the quarter-finals. Junior Hoilett, Jonathan Osorio, Jaydon Nelson and Lyme Millar scored for the winners. In the Cuban team, Luis Paradel and Mikel Reyes scored accurate kicks, who made 11-meter kicks.
In another Group D match, Guateman defeated Guadeloupe 3-2 (2-1) to take first place in the group. For the Guatemalans, Rubio Rubin scored two accurate shots, while Carlos Mejia beat the opponent’s goalkeeper once. Andrew Gravilon and Anžš Ploumen scored goals for Guadeloupe, but in the 88th minute of the match, Matias Phaeton failed to realize a penalty kick and draw a draw. Group D was won by Guatemala with seven points, the Canadian national team took second place with five points, Guadeloupe took third place with four points, but the Cubans did not win any points and remained fourth.
Guatemala will meet Japan in the quarterfinals on July 9, while the Canadians will play the second host, the USA.
On Tuesday, Costa Rican football players also reached the next round, beating Martinique 6:4 (2:1) in a productive match in the final round of subgroup C. Kendall Waston, Juan Pavlo Vargas, Joey Campbell, Antony Contreras and Diego Campos scored for the winners, while Patrick Burner scored twice for Martinique, who also netted once, as well as Brayton Labo and Jonathan Mexico.
In another match of Group C, Panama, which secured a place in the quarter-finals earlier, drew 2:2 (1:1) with El Salvador. Fidel Escobar Mendieta and Isail Diaz de Leon scored for the Panamanians, while brothers Brian Hill and Myers Hill scored both goals for El Salvador, the latter equalizing the score in stoppage time.
In subgroup C, the first place was won by Panama with seven points, Costa Rica finished second with four points, three points and third position went to Martinique, and El Salvador remained fourth with two points. In the quarterfinals, Panama will meet Qatar on July 8, while Costa Rica will play Mexico.
The CONCACAF Gold Cup is held every two years. This year it will take place in the USA and Canada from June 24 to July 16.
In 2021, the USA national team became the winners of the CONCACAF Gold Cup for the seventh time in history, beating the previous champion Mexico 1:0 in the final.
Only three national teams have won the tournament so far – Mexico has eight titles, USA – seven, and Canada – one.
