2025 Gold Cup Draw: Opponents Revealed for the United States and Canada
by Bradley Gibbs | by Tyler Doty
Favorable Draws for Both the US and Canada
Let’s face it, as big dogs of this competition, neither the USMNT boys nor the Canadians were going to be stuck in an overly tricky group. As top seeds, they were never going to face the Mexicans, while both also had the luxury of knowing that they wouldn’t face 2023 finalist Panama either.
Of all possible group opponents, both the men coached by Mauricio Pochettino and the Maple Leafs would’ve hoped to avoid the likes of Costa Rica and Jamaica, with both of those teams capable of upsetting even the best Gold Cup opponents.
Fortunately for the North American teams, such wishes were granted, with the Costa Ricans being drawn in a group with Mexico and the Jamaicans going into the group containing Panama as the seeded team.
Here’s the full group picture ahead of the 2025 Gold Cup:
Group A
- Mexico
- Costa Rica
- Suriname
- Dominican Republic
Group B
- Canada
- Honduras
- El Salvador
- Curacao
Group C
- Panama
- Jamaica
- Guatemala
- Guadeloupe
Group D
- United States
- Haiti
- Trinidad & Tobago
- Saudi Arabia
Given how things could’ve gone, the US will likely be very happy with the group draw, though such a draw puts a certain amount of pressure on the shoulders of Pochettino’s boys, who are absolutely expected to progress as group winners without having to break into much of a sweat. The same can be said for Jesse Marsch’s Canada team.
Looking to Atone for 2023’s Disaster
Under the guidance of Pochettino, the Stars and Stripes will be looking to make up for what was a horror show back in 2023. Coached by interim boss BJ Callaghan, having edged into the semi-finals, courtesy of a hard-fought win over the Canadians, the US looked poised to set up a final against the Mexicans, but they were stunned by Panama, going down by a goal to zero, invalidating nearly every soccer prediction. Some would argue that such a disappointment was the first rather sizable nail in the national team coffin of Berhalter.
A couple of years on and there’s no reason for doom and gloom. In fact, US fans should be optimistic, with the team being marshaled by a high-profile manager, and let’s be honest, it’s not as if Pochettino has a lack of top-tier talent at his disposal.
The likes of Christian Pulisic, Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie, Timothy Weah, Yunus Musah, Gio Reyna, Chris Richards and Tanner Tessman all ply their trades in Europe’s top leagues, so the pieces of the puzzle are certainly there, it’s just about whether Pochettino can fit them together correctly.
Recent Gold Cup History Says the US Can Go Deep
Sure, the US men’s team struggled to dominate back in 2023, eventually being dumped out of the competition ahead of the final by the Panamaniacs, but in general, the Americans have made light work of going far in this competition.
In other words, recent history tells us that the US should go very far when this competition gets underway in a few months time.
In 2021, they lifted the trophy, winning the competition for a sixth time, gaining a first success since 2013. The US boys have also reached three of the last finals, playing also in four of the last six.
Gold Cup winners since 2011:
- 2011 - Mexico (beat USA 4-2 in the final)
- 2013 - USA (beat Panama 1-0 in the final)
- 2015 - Mexico (beat Jamaica 3-1 in the final)
- 2017 - USA (beat Jamaica 2-1 in the final)
- 2019 - Mexico (beatt USA 1-0 in the final)
- 2021 - USA (beat Mexico 1-0 after extra time in the final)
- 2023 - Mexico (beat Panama 1-0 in the final)
Clearly, the Mexicans, who’ve won this competition an unprecedented nine times, are the ones to get the better of, and if you want to win this competition, then it’s highly likely that you’re going to need to get the better of El Tri sooner or later.
Could the Canadians Upset Their Big Rivals?
For the Maple Leafs, whose one and only win in this competition came back in 2000 when they got their hands on the trophy thanks to a 2-0 win over Colombia in the final, recent success in the Gold Cup has remained elusive, but with clear improvement being shown by Jesse Marsch’s men in recent times, could they maybe be the ones to push the Mexicans the most?
Just last month, we saw the Canadians get the better of the USA, winning by two goals to one in the CONCACAF Nations League playoffs. It’s taken them a while to get to this point, but they too now have several players doing business in top leagues outside of North America, with the likes of Jonathan David, Tajon Buchanan, Alphonso Davies, Derek Cornelius, Daniel Jebbison, Cyle Lariin and Stephen Eustaquio all featuring regularly for some of Europe’s biggest clubs, such as Bayern Munich, Villarreal, Marseille and FC Porto.
While the dominant Gold Cup duo is still expected to comprise USMNT and the Mexicans, I really wouldn’t be surprised if Marsch’s men caused a serious ripple.
