Canada’s rise to CONCACAF’s elite began four years ago, with a resurgent side featuring breakout New England winger Tajon Buchanan, former UConn Husky striker Cyle Larin, and Portugal based midfielder Stephen Eustaquio.
That trio bolstered by world class level play from Jonathan David and Alphnso Davies has seen Canada go from continental afterthought to arguably the best team in the region during the 2022 World Cup cycle. Yes, their actual trip to Qatar didn’t go so well three years ago, but the journey was pretty impressive.
Davies is still out for an extended period after an ACL tear suffered at the Nations League finals, but the rest of Canada’s top players are here, something head coach Jesse Marsch wants you to know is absolutely not a shot at the USMNT. It totally can be coach, you’ve seen the mess they’ve been for the past year.
Behind Canada are three teams three pretty solid nations who have all seen the quarterfinals in recent years - Curacao (2019), El Salvador (2021), and Honduras (2021). Curacao could have made it a clean sweep if not for COVID forcing them to withdraw from the ‘21 edition entirely.
Which of those three will return to the knockings in 2025? It’s going to be an interesting week of games to find out.
Tuesday, June 17
- Curaçao vs. El Salvador - PayPal Park, San Jose, CA, 8:15 p.m.(FS1, UniMás, TUDN)
- Canada vs. Honduras - BC Place, Vancouver, Canada, 10:30 p.m.(FS1, UniMás, TUDN)
Saturday, June 21
- Curaçao vs. Canada - Shell Energy Stadium, Houston, TX, 7 p.m.(FS1, Univision, TUDN)
- Honduras vs. El Salvador - Shell Energy Stadium, Houston, TX, 10 p.m.(FS1, Univision, TUDN)
Tuesday, June 24
Honduras vs. Curaçao - PayPal Park, San Jose, CA, 10 p.m.
(FS2, Univision, TUDN)
Canada vs. El Salvador - Shell Energy Stadium, Houston, TX, 10 p.m.
(FS1, UniMás, ViX)
2025 Gold Cup Group C Primers, TV Schedule: Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Jamaica, PanamaThe expansion of the Gold Cup from 12 to 16 teams and the Nations League was such a great idea, because it gives us more opportunities to see some of our non-FIFA teams more.
Jake Catanese
GROUP B TEAM PRIMERS
CANADA [CAN/B1]
Head Coach: Jesse Marsch (USA)
FIFA Ranking: 30th
Nickname: The Canucks
Qualification: Nations League Semifinalist
Appearance: 17th Best Finish: Champions (2000)
Roster Breakdown: 12 MLS (USA/CAN), 4 England, 3 France, 2 Spain, 1 Belgium, 1 Croatia, 1 Portugal, 1 Scotland, 1 Switzerland
Recent Matches: CNL Semifinal L vs Mexico 0-2, CNL 3rd Place W vs USA 2-1, Friendly W 4-2 vs Ukraine, Friendly D 0-0 vs Ivory Coast
Player To Know: F/M Tajon Buchanan, Villareal (ESP), 45 Int’l Caps/4 Int’l Goals – The former Revs winger has been a mainstay in the Canadian lineup since his breakout 2021 season in New England and as the Best Young Player at the Gold Cup. A major training injury during Copa America never saw him settle in with Inter Milan but 13 games on loan for Villareal should have him ready for this tournament.
Player To Watch: MF Nathan Saliba, Montreal CF (CAN/MLS), 2 Int’l Caps – A bright spot for the otherwise bottom dwelling Foot Clan, Saliba was really solid in the friendly against Ukraine and could provide a hard working partner to free up Stephen Eustaquio in the midfield and help spring the dangerous group going forward.
Tournament Outlook
Canada’s ascendance to CONCACAF elite status happened very quickly, but the upstart group that topped World Cup qualifying are far more seasoned now and probably learned a lot by getting thumped in three straight games in Qatar. The lone North American team in the ‘24 Copa America semifinals is yet to break through with continental hardware but it’s only a matter of time before this group rides Jonathan David’s brilliance to a trophy. Pretty solid group of young players on the back end of this squad as well.
CURACAO [CUW/B4]
Head Coach: Dick Advocaat (NED)
FIFA Ranking: Nickname: La Pantera Azul
Qualification: Nations League B Flight Group B Winners
Appearance: 3rd Best Finish: Quarterfinals (2019)
Roster Breakdown: 13 Netherlands (w/ 1 Domestic), 2 Belgium, 2 Qatar, 2 Saudi Arabia, 1 Indonesia, 1 Italy, 1 Portugal, 1 Spain, 1 USA/USL
Recent Matches: FIFA WCQ W vs Saint Lucia 4-0, FIFA WCQ W at Haiti 5-1 (played in Aruba)
Player To Know: GK Eloy Room, Cercle Brugge (BEL), 59 Int’l Caps – The former Columbus Crew keeper broke out with Curacao and into MLS but only saw action in two cup games this season in Belgium.
Player To Watch: FW Rangelo Janga, FC Eindhoven (NED), 42 Int’l Caps/21 Int’l Goals – The Bacuna brothers in midfield are also a good shout here, but well go with the Blue Panthers all-time leading scorer who tallied a hat trick last year against Barbados and has notched goals against solid regional opponents like Panama (twice), Costa Rica, Trinidad, and El Salvador in recent years.
Tournament Outlook
Curacao has been able to punch above their weight before, and had COVID nix their 2021 tournament before it even began, but they’ve played very weak opposition in the last year or so and were in a Nations League A Flight group with Honduras and Canada in 2022/23 and finished last but did manage a win in Honduras. Their qualifier against Haiti is probably the best team they’ve played in the region in two years and the path back itno the knockouts absolutely must begin with a win in their opener against El Salvador.
Jake Catanese
EL SALVADOR [SLV/B3]
Head Coach: Hernan Dario Gomez (COL)
FIFA Ranking: 81st Nickname: La Selecta
Qualification: Nations League B Flight Group A Winners
Appearance: 14th Best Finish: Quarterfinals (6 times, last in 2021)
Roster Breakdown: 23 Domestic, 1 Netherlands, 1 Russia, 1 USA/MLS
Recent Matches: Friendly D vs Guatemala, FIFA WCQ W at Anguilla 3-0, FIFA WCQ D vs Suriname 1-1
Player To Know: MF Harold Osorio, Chicago Fire (USA/MLS), 3 Int’l Caps – An attacking midfielder who came up through the Fire’s NextPro setup, Osorio has made a late cameo appearance for his MLS debut but tallied nine goals last season for Fire II.
Player To Watch: FW Brayan Gil, Baltika Kaliningrad (RUS), 12 Int’l Caps/4 Int’l Goals – Any time we get to go geography nerd on you lot and mention Kaliningrad (that tiny splotch of Russia not directly attached to the motherland near Poland and Lithuania) is a good day. Anyway, B. Gil is a Colombian born player (his dad Cristian Gil had a long playing career in El Salvador) and featured regularly for La Selecta in 2023.
Tournament Outlook
Like Curacao, El Salvador against top regional teams struggled for results throughout 2023 and into 2024. They’re dominating in the B Flight of the Nations League but they’re well above that level. El Salvador usually are battling for a knockout round place but don’t let last tournament’s last place group stage result fool you. La Selecta notched two draws against Panama and Costa Rica but were undone by two quick Martinique goals in their group opener – somthing they can’t repeat against Curacao.
Jake Catanese
HONDURAS [HON/B2]
Head Coach: Reinaldo Rueda (COL)
FIFA Ranking: 75th Nickname: Los Catrachos
Qualification: Prelim Winners vs Bermuda, 7-3 agg.
Appearance: 17th Best Finish: Runners-up (1991)
Roster Breakdown: 18 Domestic, 2 MLS (USA/CAN), 1 Costa Rica, 1 Greece, 1 Mexico, 1 Romania, 1 Saudi Arabia, 1 Spain
Recent Matches: FIFA WCQ W at Cayman Islands 1-0, FIFA WCQ W vs Antigua and Barbuda 2-0
Player To Know: FW Romell Quioto, Al-Arabi (KSA), 69 Int’l Caps/16 Int’l Goals – Longtime MLS veteran with Houston and Montreal, he’s still scoring goals in the Saudi League with 13 goals in 28 games this past season.
Player To Watch: MF Deiby Flores, Toronto FC (MLS/CAN), 46 Int’l Caps/1 Int’l Goal – The stalwart TFC midfielder will be tasked with shielding backline that isn’t very deep with international experience on paper.
Tournament Outlook
Los Catrachos lost out on a quarterfinals spot to Qatar on goal difference two years ago thanks to a dismal 0-4 loss to Mexico in the group opener. Did beat El Tri in their Nations League quarters home game before getting routed in the away leg so they’re able to contend at the top but are far from being an elite team in the region. Second group match vs El Salvador might decide second place and a quarterfinal spot in this group.
GROUP OVERVIEW
Okay since I can’t in good faith or on any level of professionalism mention my favorite Gold Cup goal ever (Fabrice Reuperne’s thunderbastard past Milan Borjan in 2013) to annoy Canada cause Martinique isn’t here…I’ll have to settle for their “rivalry” with Honduras. Now this is mostly when the Canucks are playing in San Pedro Sula which won’t apply here but I have to take whatever separation I can get here from this group. Plus these references are only getting older and it’s been a pretty good decade for Canada since these…uh, travesties occurred.
Honduras getting the extra Nations Leagues games against Mexico, and winning one of them, is the best win on any of the three resumes behind Canada. Curacao’s romp over Haiti in qualifying right before the Gold Cup might be second, and then El Salvador’s draw and runner-up finish to Suriname in qualifying probably third.
It feels odd to not be high on El Salvador making the quarterfinals, but I think they’re the spoiler team in this group. I think there will be a lot of draws, including at least one for Canada, but two pretty good teams have to go home here. The first games between Curacao-El Salvador and Canada-Honduras probably decide this group. Honduras getting even a point would take a lot of pressure off from winning the other two and a potential loser in CUW/SLV probably would be in too much an early hole to get back into the top two.
The nod goes to Curacao to see if they can continue their form off that Haiti match and getting the "easy” game first. But there are no easy games in this group, fun battles ahead.
GROUP PREDICTIONS
1) Canada 2) Curacao 3) Honduras 4) El Salvador
