The top players from North America and Central America will have a chance to spotlight their skills while playing for their home country in the Concacaf Gold Cup.
The Gold Cup takes place every two years and varies locations throughout the participating countries. This year it will be hosted by the United States.
Gold Cup 2021: Schedule and Dates
Group Stage: Saturday, July 10 – Tuesday, July 20 Quarter-Finals: Saturday, July 24 – Sunday, July 25 Semi-Finals: Thursday, July 29 Final: Sunday, August 1
Gold Cup 2021: Odds
Mexico: +120
USA: +150 Costa Rica: +1400 Canada: +1800
Prior to finalizing your Gold Cup future wagers, read below for a breakdown of the tournament’s top contenders.
Mexico (+120)
Mexico is the favorite heading into the tournament. They are the current defending champions, as they brought home the trophy in 2019, where they defeated the United States 1-0 in the finals.
Mexico has the most complete roster in the tournament. They have multiple players who play for some of the top teams in the world. For instance, they have Hirving Lozano, who plays for PSV, and Hector Herrera, who suits up with Atletico Madrid.
Since Gerardo Martino was hired as the manager in 2019, Mexico has a 25-3-2 record. They play an exciting style that focuses on possession and the technical and creative play of their attackers. However, if there is any doubt that Mexico will come up short this tournament, it will be due to their lack of size and ability to defend set pieces.
USA (+150)
The USA has a chance to earn two trophies in Concacaf competitions this summer.
They have a never-give-up mentality and proved that when they defeated Mexico in the Concacaf Nations League final earlier this summer after being down a goal twice.
However, on paper, their Gold Cup roster is significantly weaker than the one they displayed in the Nations League. Of the starting eleven who recently defeated Mexico, only Kellyn Acosta will be on the field. Their other star names like Serginho Dest, Weston McKennie, Giovanni Reyna, and Christian Pulisic will all be absent.
While the United States is certainly one of the favorites to take gold in the Gold Cup, they will have their hands full without their young European stars if they are ever to face off against Mexico in one of the Knockout rounds.
Costa Rica (+1400)
There is a significant drop off from the level of play in this year's Gold Cup once you move past the top two favorites of the tournament.
That said, they have strong veteran leadership amongst their roster in Joel Campbell and Yeltsin Tejeda, who helped lead their country to the quarterfinals in the 2014 World Cup.
Costa Rica has had a bad string of results as of late, failing to earn a win in their last eight matches. However, when they are in rhythm, they can be a hard team to break down defensively.
They had a 0-0 draw against Mexico in the Nations League semi-finals before losing in penalty kicks 5-4.
Canada (+1800)
Canada is yet to get their praise from Vegas, despite scoring the same points total as the USA in the group stage of the recent Nations League. In fact, they defeated the United States in that tournament 2-0 before being left out of the knockout rounds due to goal differential. Canada has pieced together one of its strongest rosters ever. They will have players like Tajon Buchanan, Mark-Anthony Kaye, and Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies, all within their starting eleven.
Canada is arguably in the best form out of every team preparing for this year's Gold Cup. They have won their last six games with a goal differential of +30.
Final Gold Cup Prediction & Pick
Expect an exhilarating competition full of matchups that have decades of history within. However, Mexico has a far superior team to the rest of the field.
For those reasons, if Herrera and the rest of the Mexican team can stay healthy for the remainder of the tournament, they will defend their 2019 championship and claim victory of the Gold Cup tournament for the 12th time. However, if you are looking for value, it would not be a bad idea to sprinkle a little on Canada.
FINAL GOLD CUP PREDICTION & PICK: Mexico (+120)
*Odds were updated Fri, July 9, 2021, at 9:00 PM ET – Subject to Change – Odds from PointsBet*
Which country do you think will bring home the 2021 Gold Cup trophy? Let us know in the comments.
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