2025 Gold Cup Group D Primer - Haiti, Saudi Arabia, Trinidad and Tobago, United States

The USMNT beings their Gold Cup quest as Group D starts tonight along with Costa Rica-Suriname to round out Group A's first games.

No, we’re not going to try and figure out why Group D is starting after Group A. I assume as always that there are shenanigans afoot to keep the USA and Mexico on separate sides of the knockout bracket.

Since CONCACAF decided to use their own regional rankings which have the USA a deserved fourth behind El Tri, Canada, and Panama…it would have made more sense to actually have a USA-MEX semifinal. Doubly so given the roster the USMNT decided to show up with.

Issues with Christian Pulisic and Maurico Pochettino aside, the USA’s dismal performances in their warm up friendlies has submarined any confidence of this team being a serious contender in this tournament. Now they might be without Tyler Adams and Johnny Cardoso due to injury/illness ahead of their opener against T&T.

This is still a group the USMNT should be winning going away, but the US has struggled to generate quality attacking chances with their full senior team, let alone a largely backup squad. The door is wide open for someone else to win this group; we just have to see how many of the other teams can take advantage.

TV SCHEDULE (all times Eastern)

Sunday, June 15

• United States vs. Trinidad and Tobago - PayPal Park, San Jose, CA, 6 p.m.

  (FOX, Univision, TUDN)

• Haiti vs. Saudi Arabia - Snapdragon Stadium, San Diego, CA, 8:15 p.m.

  (FS1, Univision, TUDN)

Wednesday, June 18

• Costa Rica vs. Dominican Republic - AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX, 7 p.m.

  (FS1, TUDN)

• Suriname vs. Mexico - AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX, 10 p.m.

  (FS1, Univision, TUDN)

Sunday, June 22

• Saudi Arabia vs. Trinidad and Tobago - Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, NV, 7 p.m. (FS1, Univision, TUDN)

• United States vs. Haiti - AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX, 7 p.m.

  (FOX, UniMás, ViX)

TEAM PRIMERS

HAITI [HAI/D2]

Head Coach: Sebastien Migne (FRA)

FIFA Ranking: 83rd Nickname: Les Grenadiers

Qualification: Nations League B Flight Group A Winners

Appearance: 10th Best Finish: Semifinal (2019)

Roster Breakdown: 7 France (w/ 1 Domestic), 5 USA/Canada (MLS/USL), 2 Belgium, 1 Albania, 1 Denmark, 1 Ecuador, 1 Greece, 1 Italy, 1 Lithuania, 1 Netherlands, 1 Portugal, 1 Switzerland, 1 Turkey

Recent Matches: FIFA WCQ W at Aruba 5-0, FIFA WCQ L vs Curacao 1-5

Player To Know: DF Francois Dulysse, Egnatia (ALB), 8 Int’l Caps – The former Revs II and Manhattan Univ player (what is a Jasper anyway?) played for two years with Central Valley in the USL before going abroad and winning the 23/24 Albanian Cup.

Player To Watch: F/M Fafa Picault, Inter Miami (USA/MLS), 12 Int’l Caps/ 1 Int’l Goal – The MLS veteran has four goals and an assist in just 400 minutes this season (4 starts/11 appearances) but that level of efficiency is what Haiti needs if it’s going into the next round.

Tournament Outlook

Yes, we enjoy Duckens Nazon Szn as much as anyone, and the front three of Picault, Nazon, and Frantzdy Pierrot with Louicius Deedson can be as potent as any attacking group in the region. They’re the second-best CONCACAF team in Group D, but the best team they’ve played in a year and a half might be Curacao last week, and that didn’t go well for them. After dominating a vastly outmatched CNL B Flight group with a +24 GD, their defensive unit needs to fix whatever went wrong in that last qualifier very quickly. This feels like a team that excels at being on the front foot, but how often they can do that and keep Johnny Placide from working too hard remains to be seen.

SAUDI ARABIA [KSA/D4]

Head Coach: Herve Renard (FRA)

FIFA Ranking: 58th Nickname: Green Falcons

Qualification: Special Invitee

Appearance: Debut Best Finish: N/A

Roster Breakdown: 22 Domestic, 2 Belgium, 1 France, 1 Italy

Recent Matches: Friendly W vs Jordan 2-0, WCQ W at Bahrain 2-0, WCQ L vs Australia 1-2

Player To Know: DF Saud Abdulhamid, Roma (ITA), 43 Int’l Caps / 1 Int’l Goal – One of the few international based players and by far the most notable club, Saud mainly featured in the Europa League and his goal against Braga saw him become the first Arab player to score in that competition.

Player To Watch: FW Firas Al-Buraikan, Al-Ahli (KSA), 50 Int’l Caps / 9 Int’l Goals – Had an impressive 2023/24 season where he notched 13 goals in 27 league games as well as adding three international goals for the Falcons in qualifying. As far as I can tell most in form attacker the Saudis have otherwise it’s scoring by committee.

Tournament Outlook

Don’t expect a sprint into the knockout stages like Qatar did four years ago with star scorer Almoez Ali leading the way. The Saudis are good, but they’re not lighting up the scoreboard. They had just six goals for (and six allowed) in nine WCQ games so far, with one match to go against Australia (a 2-1 loss). They can qualify for the World Cup through the Asia playoff groups, but we don’t yet know the three-team groups. This is still a team that will fit well in this competition, but are far more defensive grinders that need to be taken seriously cause they did beat those Argentines a few years back.

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO [TRI/D3]

Head Coach: Dwight Yorke (TRI)

FIFA Ranking: 100th Nickname: Soca Warriors

Qualification: Prelim Winner vs Cuba, 6-1 agg.

Appearance: 13th Best Finish: Semifinals (2000)

Roster Breakdown: 8 Domestic, 6 USA (MLS/USL), 4 Canada (MLS/CPL), 2 England, 2 Jamaica, 1 Belgium, 1 Honduras, 1 Russia, 1 Scotland

Recent Matches: Friendly (Unity Cup) L vs Jamaica 2-3, Friendly (Unity Cup) L vs Ghana 0-4, FIFA WCQ W vs Saint Kitts and Nevis 6-2, FIFA WCQ L vs Costa Rica 1-2

Player To Know: FW Nathaniel “Natty” James, Portland Hearts of Pine (USA/USL), 12 Int’l Caps / 4 Int’l Goals – Came on late against SKN and scored in the 89^th minute, bringing his qualifying totals to two goals/one assist in three games. Has one league goal in USL and a couple of assists in Jager Cup action as well for the expansion Maine side.

Player To Watch: FW Dante Sealy, CF Montreal (CAN/MLS), 1 Int’l Cap / 2 Int’l Goals – Scored twice on his debut against SKN and has two goals and an assist for the Foot Clan in MLS play in 14 starts so far this year.

Tournament Outlook

There’s still a decent old guard for T&T, especially in defense with Joevin Jones, Alvin Jones, Sheldon Bateau, keeper Marvin Phillip, and midfielder Kevin Molino. They finished in second place behind Costa Rica in their qualifying group, but recent games against better quality opponents in the region, like Honduras and Jamaica, and friendlies with Saudi Arabia and Ghana haven’t gone well for them, as their tendency to leak goals last Gold Cup still holds true. Perhaps the young guns up front can play spoiler, but the Soca Warriors are far from the knockout threat in the Gold Cup like they were a decade ago.

UNITED STATES [USA/D1]

Head Coach: Mauricio Pochettino (ARG)

FIFA Ranking: 16th Nickname: The Yanks

Qualification: Nations League Semifinalist (Fourth Place)

Appearance: 18th Best Finish: Champions (7 times, last in 2021)

Roster Breakdown: 15 MLS (USA/CAN), 5 England, 2 Germany, 2 Netherlands, 1 France, 1 Spain

Recent Matches: CNL Semifinal L vs Panama 0-1, CNL Third Place L vs Canada 1-2, Friendly L vs Turkey 1-2, Friendly L vs Switzerlannd 0-4

Player To Know: GK Matt Turner, Crystal Palace (ENG), 52 Int’l Caps – An unsuccessful move to the EPL as far as playing time goes, the former Revs netminder is set to join Lyon this offseason. The USMNT has always enjoyed strong goalkeeping play at the world stage, and despite Turner’s lack of playing time no one has taken the job from him yet and the ‘21 Gold Cup Golden Gloves winner has a chance to cement his status as USA #1.

Player To Watch: Johnny Cardoso, Real Betis (ESP), 20 Int’l Caps / 0 Int’l Goals – Cardoso might be on the move to Atletico Madrid later this summer, but his tenure with the USMNT has been a rocky one. Not helped was his error in the back that led to a Turkey goal in the warm-up friendly a week ago. Cardoso has the talent to be a significant contributor on this team next summer and this is a big tournament for him to match his club form with the national team.

Tournament Outlook

Regardless of the USMNT’s current form and lack of star power, this should still be a roster capable of winning this group. However, there are grave concerns about what this team can achieve with significant injuries to its fullback group, a largely second-string midfield, and only one attacker with double-digit international appearances (Haji Wright, with 16 caps). Whatever issues the team is having on and off the field, the opportunities players like Diego Luna, Patrick Agyemang, Alex Freeman, among others, just getting their first few caps, is what we will eventually remember this tournament for, because it is far from a roster that appears capable of winning this tournament.

GROUP OVERVIEW

I was absolutely ready to put Haiti back into the quarterfinals with the USA, but that 5-1 loss to Curacao in qualifying is very concerning. This is a big step up in quality from what Les Grenadiers have seen over the last year, and combine that with a potentially despondent USMNT squad, and we might have a very wide open group.

The first sign of full chaos will be tonight if the USA doesn’t get a win over T&T. At that point, it would not be wrong to think that Saudi Arabia could be the group favorites if they get a win in their opener against Haiti. We’ll know a lot more about this group Monday morning, but for now we’ll give the edge to the alleged regional power and the team that beat the world champs four years ago.

GROUP PREDICTION

1) United States 2) Saudi Arabia 3) Haiti 4) Trinidad and Tobago