2025 Gold Cup Group C Primers, TV Schedule: Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Jamaica, Panama
The third group of the Gold Cup begins as two World Cup qualifying favorites look to hold off two upstarts that will be playing in the next A Flight of the Nations League.
The 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.
Now Guadeloupe is not joined by their compatriots from Martinique this time around, but the Gwada Boys are making their sixth appearance and third tournament in a row and just like Guatemala both underdogs have climbed up the ranks from the C Flight of the Nations League. Los Chapines were banished there because of a federation suspension and sanctions imposed by FIFA but that just adds to the intrigue.
Guadeloupe isn’t involved in World Cup Qualifying and did get relegated into the B Flight of the CNL, but Guatemala advanced in second behind Jamaica in their qualifying group while Panama topped theirs. So that puts two heavy WCQ favorites and a Guatemala side that will be absolutely in the mix to advance into the intercontinental playoffs in the same group.
So can Guatemala or Guadeloupe use their Nations League experience to break through into the knockouts or will Jamaica and Panama continue to separate themselves from the expanding middle pack in CONCACAF?
Monday, June 16
Panama vs. Guadeloupe - Dignity Health Sports Park, Carson, CA, 7 p.m.
(FS1, UniMás, TUDN)
Jamaica vs. Guatemala - Dignity Health Sports Park, Carson, CA, 10 p.m.
(FS1, UniMás, TUDN)
Friday, June 20
Jamaica vs. Guadeloupe - PayPal Park, San Jose, CA, 7:45 p.m.
(FS1, UniMás, TUDN)
Guatemala vs. Panama - Q2 Stadium, Austin, TX, 10 p.m.
(FS1, UniMás, TUDN)
Tuesday, June 24
Panama vs. Jamaica - Q2 Stadium, Austin, TX, 7 p.m.
(FS1, Univision, TUDN)
Guadeloupe vs. Guatemala - Shell Energy Stadium, Houston, TX, 7 p.m.
(FS2, UniMás, ViX)
GROUP C TEAM PRIMERS
GUADELOUPE [GLP/C4]
Head Coach: Jocelyn Angloma (GLP)
FIFA Ranking: N/A Nickname: Les Gwada Boys
Qualification: Prelim Winners vs Nicaragua, 2-0 agg.
Appearance: 6th Best Finish: Semifinals (2007)
Roster Breakdown: 16 France/Domestic, 3 Luxembourg, 1 Belgium, 1 Bulgaria, 1 Cyprus, 1 Germany, 1 Serbia, 1 Switzerland, 1 Turkey
Recent Matches: Gold Cup Prelim W vs Nicaragua 1-0, GC Prelim W at Nicaragua 1-0
Player To Know: DF Jerome Roussillon, Union Berlin (GER), 8 Int’l Caps/2 Int’l Goals – A former French youth international who has over 100 games in both Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga, had a $20M value with Wolfsburg back in 2019 according to Transfermarkt.
Player To Watch: FW Matthias Phaeton, CSKA Sofia (RUS), 31 Int’l Caps/11 Int’l Goals – Another former French youth player, Phaeton mostly featured in the lower French divisions before a move to Sofia at the start of the 23/24 season. A seasoned Gold Cup veteran, Phaeton recorded three goals during the 2021 and 2023 Gold Cup cycles (qualifying and tournament proper) as well as three goals in the 23/24 Nations League B Flight.
Tournament Outlook
Guadeloupe took the long way through qualification by being the only team to win the initial play-in round, then also winning in the preliminaries, which might be a good thing for the non-FIFA nation to get extra games. Narrowly missed out on making the prelims outright but finished 5th in the their Nations League group to Martinique who they drew and lost to in the group phase. Eliminated in 2023 on four points in a wild group that saw the Gwada Boys tie Canada in stoppage time and give away a second half lead and lose to Guatemala. A much tougher group this time around for a side that has been improving in CONCACAF play the last few years but not being a FIFA member is not involved in WCQ.
GUATEMALA (GUA/C3]
Head Coach: Luis Fernando Tena (MEX)
FIFA Ranking: 106th Nickname: Los Chapines
Qualification: Prelim Winners vs Guyana, 4-3 agg.
Appearance: 13th Best Finish: Fourth Place (1996)
Roster Breakdown: 18 Domestic, 6 USA/CAN (MLS/USL), 1 Moldova, 1 Romania
Recent Matches: Friendly D vs El Salvador 1-1, FIFA WCQ W vs Dominican Rep. 4-2, FIFA WCQ L at Jamaica 0-3
Player To Know: FW Arquimides Ordonez, Zimbru Chisinau (MDA), 4 Int’l Caps – A former Crew youth player who eventually moved to the FC Cincinnati setup and did pretty well with Cincy 2, scoring double-digit goals over parts of two seasons. Yes, that is a real team in Moldova who have finished in third place the past three seasons which earns them a spot in the UEFA Conference League qualifiers.
Player To Watch: DF Nicolas Samayoa, Politehnica Iasi (ROU), 26 Int’l Caps/2 Int’l Goals – The former Revs draft pick found steady play with Communicaciones and turned that into a long term loan in Romania though his club was relegated through whatever weird playoff system/split season thing to the second division.
Tournament Outlook
The soccer gods must have been on something with this group draw, cause Guatemala is going to play a qualifier against Jamaica then open the Gold Cup against them a week later. The Reggae Boys eliminated them in the Gold Cup quarters last time too. Los Chapines are probably one of the more battle tested mid-tier teams, having played Costa Rica twice in Nations League play and getting a scoreless draw at home against Los Ticos. Much tougher road through both Jamaica and Panama if they want to get back to the knockouts.
JAMAICA [JAM/C2]
Head Coach: Steve McClaren (ENG)
FIFA Ranking: 63rd Nickname: Reggae Boyz
Qualification: Prelim Winners vs St Vincent and the Grenadines, 4-1 agg.
Appearance: 14th Best Finish: Runner-up (2015, 2017)
Roster Breakdown: 5 Domestic, 15 England, 3 USA (MLS/USL), 2 Saudi Arabia, 1 Turkey
Recent Matches: Friendly (Unity Cup) W vs Trinidad 3-2, Friendly (Unity Cup) vs Nigeria D 2-2, FIFA WCQ W at British Virgin Islands 1-0, FIFA WCQ W vs Guatemala 3-0
Player To Know: GK Andre Blake, Philadelphia Union (USA/MLS), 82 Int’l Caps – The former UConn Husky is very close to the century mark with Jamaica, but might only have one more cycle after 2026 to claim international hardware.
Player To Watch: Bobby De Cordova-Reid, Leicester City (ENG), 37 Int’l Caps/6 Int’l Goals – I could have picked any of Jamaica EPL attackers, but the moral for all of them is the same. None of them (Reid, Antonio, Bailey) have double digit international goal totals through 20-30+ appearances and it’s surprising Jamaica haven’t been more successful on the international stage with that influx of talent.
Tournament Outlook
Jamaica had a forgettable 2024 in major competitions, getting swept at Copa America and losing both legs of the Nations League quarterfinals to the USA. They still topped their Nations League A Flight group with Honduras and Trinidad, but we thought a few years ago this was going to be the squad to break the North American hold on the Gold Cup trophy but despite making four out of five semifinals, it hasn’t happened. This is also one of the best chances for the Reggae Boys to make their second World Cup ever after several disappointing trips to “The Hex” (CONCACAF’s old six team round robin final round of qualifying) having clinched a spot in the three group final round where they’ll likely be a Pot 1 team based on world rankings.
PANAMA [PAN/C1]
Head Coach: Thomas Christiansen (DEN)
FIFA Ranking: 33rd Nickname: Los Canaleros
Qualification: Nations League Semifinalist (Runner-up)
Appearance: 12th Best Finish: Runners-up (2005, 2013, 2023)
Roster Breakdown: 4 Colombia, 3 USA (MLS/NextPro), 2 Chile, 2 Venezuela, 1 Austria, 1 Brazil, 1 Costa Rica, 1 England, 1 France, 1 Honduras, 1 Israel, 1 Mexico, 1 Russia, 1 Saudi Arabia, 1 Scotland, 1 Slovakia, 1 Spain, 1 Ukraine, 1 Uruguay
Recent Matches: CNL Semifinal W at USA 1-0, CNL Final L vs Mexico 1-2, FIFA WCQ W at Belize 0-2, FIFA WCQ vs Nicaragua
Player To Know: FW Jose Fajardo, Universidad Catolica (COL), 57 Int’l Caps/15 Int’l Goals – Scored a total of 11 goals in the 2023/24 calendar years for Los Canaleros, including a game winner against the USA in Copa America and the winner against Costa Rica in Nations League play. Scored two openers last Gold Cup against Costa Rica and Martinique as well.
Player To Watch: GK JD Gunn, New England Revolution II, Awaiting Int’l Debut – Yes, Panama’s third keeper is technically American, though born and mostly raised in Panama City where he also represented his home country as a U18 basketball player. He’s probably not likely to feature ahead of the two veterans Mejia and Mosquera but we’re rooting for him all the same.
Tournament Outlook
If there was a “Big Four” in CONCACAF, Los Canaleros would be my pick to join the North American trio. Three straight Nations League semifinals to go with their three straight Gold Cup finals from 2011-15 in the Blaz Perez/Jaime Penedo era, Panama never really missed a beat. Another team that looks like they’re going to make their second World Cup if current form holds and also make another regional semifinal.
GROUP OVERVIEW
I really think this is the year of the Reggae Boyz, if they aren’t going to break through on the regional stage this year then I don’t see it happening with their current generation. They are the favorites to top their World Cup qualifying group and very clearly one of the two favorites here.
Panama’s consistency is usually rewarded as they are as consistent as they are so often unspectacular. Never flashing, always delivering and working hard. Los Canaleros will be in the knockouts but Andre Blake is going to channel his inner Connecticut basketball championship powers to greatness…or at least the top of the group.
GROUP PREDICTIONS
1) Jamaica 2) Panama 3) Guatemala 4) Guadeloupe