Preview
Costa Rica and Canada will compete for a spot in the semi-final of the Gold Cup when they go head to head at the at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Sunday. Los Ticos are not new customers to this phase of the competition, having played in the quarter-finals of the competitions in each of the last eight editions. They come into this one as winners of Group C, having picked up victories in meetings with Guadeloupe, Suriname, and Jamaica.
They kick-started their Gold Cup campaign with a 3-1 win over Guadeloupe before winning 2-1 and 1-0 against Suriname and Jamaica respectively. Indeed, the fortunes of Luis Guzman's men has seen a change as prior to the start of the tournament, they were on a 10-game unbeaten run. Between February 2020 and March 2021, they recorded eight defeats and two draws.
At all cost, the Costa Ricans will set out to feature in Sunday's tie hoping to get vindication for the painful memories that have characterized their quarter-final spells in previous editions of the tournament. Two years ago, they fell to Mexico at the same stage via penalty shoot-outs. in the competition before that, they were eliminated by the same country via a 1-0 scoreline in extra-time. With this as their motivation, they should put on a good fight to get the better of the Canadians.
The Canucks booked their place in the quarter-finals by finishing second in Group B of the Gold Cup. They defeated Martinique and Haiti in the opening two games, securing 4-1 wins in both games. However, they missed the boat to occupy the No.1 spot after a 1-0 loss in their last match against the USA.
John Herdmen's side is still regarded as one of the favorites to secure the trophy at this tournament and they will be eager to live up to expectations with a good performance. At the moment, they have registered eight wins across their last 10 appearances in all competitions, with the remaining two games being defeats against Iceland and the United States.
Having failed to make it beyond the quarter-final stage of the Gold Cup since 2007, Canada will be eager to make a difference this time despite the reputation of the opponent they come up against.
Head to head record
The last meeting between Costa Rica and Canada was played on July 11, 2017. Goals by Alphonso Davies and Francisco Caivo secured a 1-1 draw for both sides in the first round of the Gold Cup.
Team news
Leonel Moreira will be absent for the Costa Ricans when they take on Canada. Los Ticos' goalkeeper will be absent as a result of being red-carded in the win over Jamaica. Reltively, defender Francisco Calvo will be unavailable for that game following his expulsion versus Suriname.
For Canada, both Alphonso Davies and Jonathan David are missing in action after picking up respective injuries.
Predicted starting XI
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Costa Rica: Alvarado; Lopez, Gonzalez, Duarte, Fuller; Cruz, Borges, Venegas; Brenes, Campbell, Lassiter
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Canada: Crepeau; Miller, Vitoria, Johnston; Buchanan, Kaye, Fraser, Osorio, Hoilett; Larin, Cavallini
Broadcast information
Match details, result and original broadcast info
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Live TV coverage and streaming in United States
Live TV coverage and streaming in United States
