It's elimination time at the Gold Cup
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The journey was a bit bumpy, but the Canadian men's soccer team got the job done and qualified for the knockout stage at the Concacaf Gold Cup, the championship tournament for North and Central America and the Caribbean.
Favoured to win Group B as the 30th-ranked team in the world, Canada opened with a 6-0 drubbing of No. 75 Honduras in Vancouver but encountered some tougher contests after relocating to Houston to finish out group play.
Needing a win over 90th-ranked Curacao last Saturday night to clinch a spot in the quarterfinals, the Canadians clung to a 1-0 lead into second-half stoppage time before a Curacao substitute stunned them with a goal in the 94th minute to steal a 1-1 draw. It could have been worse: Curacao had two goals disallowed due to offsides and was denied a potential penalty kick in the 86th minute on an apparent hand ball when the referees ruled that play had halted because someone in the crowd blew a whistle.
WATCH | Canada blanks El Savador, advances to Gold Cup quarterfinal:
Canada shuts down El Salvador, wins Group B at Gold Cup
2 days ago
Duration 2:28
That disappointing result put the pressure on Canada to win the group finale against El Salvador on Tuesday night to earn first place and a more favourable matchup in the quarterfinals. The 81st-ranked El Salvadorans made it a rock fight, playing very conservatively (they had only two shots, compared to 14 for Canada) while racking up 19 fouls, four yellow cards and a pair of reds that caused them to play two men short for the entire second half. Canada finally broke through in the 53 minute when Jonathan David scored his record-extending 35th goal in 66 appearances for the national team, and Tajon Buchanan found the net 2½ minutes later to send Canada to a nasty 2-0 win.
With the top two teams in the group advancing, Canada (seven points) edged Honduras (six) for first place, followed by Curacao (two) and El Salvador (one).
Now it's time for the single-knockout rounds. Canada's opponent in this weekend's quarterfinals is 106th-ranked Guatemala, which surprised a lot of people by finishing second in Group C. Los Chapins upset No. 63 Jamaica 1-0 in their opener and advanced with a 3-2 win over tiny Guadeloupe after falling 1-0 to eventual group winner Panama in between.
Canada is 10-2-2 all-time against Guatemala. But their last meeting, in the group stage of the 2023 Gold Cup, ended in a scoreless draw.
WATCH | Canada stunned late, settles for draw with Curacao:
Canada settles for Gold Cup draw with Curacao after allowing stoppage-time goal
5 days ago
Duration 1:29
Head coach Jesse Marsch returned to the sidelines against El Salvador after serving a two-match suspension for arguing with a referee during a match against the United States at the Concacaf Nation League Finals in March. But Canada remains below full strength on the field. Star captain Alphonso Davies is out until the fall due to a torn ACL suffered in the third-place match at the Nations League Finals (the same one where Marsch got red-carded) while starting defender Moise Bombito remains sidelined after wrist surgery. Defender Derek Cornelius returned to the starting lineup against El Salvador after missing the first two matches, but veteran midfielder Jonathan Osorio was sent home after getting injured in practice before the Curacao game.
Canada had been hoping to get key midfielder Stephen Eustaquio back after his FC Porto team was eliminated from the Club World Cup (also taking place in the United States) on Monday. But it appears that he flew back to Portugal with his team and won't play in the Gold Cup.
WATCH | David says Canada men's team has matured en route to 2026 World Cup:
Jonathan David: 'We've matured and got better' ahead of 2026 World Cup
16 days ago
Duration 8:54
Anastasia Bucsis sits down with Canadian soccer star Jonathan David to talk about the 2026 World Cup, captaining at the Gold Cup, transfer rumours, and his impact at Lille in France.
The Canada-Guatemala quarterfinal takes place Sunday at 4 p.m. ET in Minneapolis.
The winner will face either the United States or Costa Rica, who play Sunday at 7 p.m. ET in the same location. The 16th-ranked Americans won all three of their matches in Group D, while No. 54 Costa Rica had two wins and a draw against first-place Mexico in Group A.
The other two quarterfinal matchups are on Saturday in Glendale, Ariz. 33rd-ranked Panama, which went a perfect 3-0-0 to win Group C, faces Honduras (2 wins, 1 loss) at 7:15 p.m. ET. No. 17 Mexico, which took Group A with two wins and a draw, meets 58th-ranked guest team Saudi Arabia (1-1-1) at 10:15 pm ET in Glendale, Ariz.
The semifinals are on July 2 in St. Louis and Santa Clara, Calif. The final is July 6 in Houston.
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