The Canadian men’s team will be front and centre when it competes in the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup.
The biennial championship for North America brings together countries from all over the region as they fight for Concacaf supremacy. Canada will be looking to win the tournament for only the second time and its first in 25 years.
Here’s what you need to know about this summer’s Concacaf Gold Cup.
How the tournament works
The 16-nation field is divided into four round-robin groups. Two teams in each group advance to the knockout round.
The tournament’s 33 games will take place in 14 different venues across 13 cities in the United States and Canada – Vancouver’s BC Place hosts Canada’s opening group stage match vs. Honduras on June 17.
The quarter-finals are scheduled for June 28-29 in Minneapolis and Glendale, Arizona. The semifinals on July 2 are split between St. Louis and Santa Clara, California. The final on July 6 will be staged in Houston at NRG Stadium, which will host seven matches at next year’s FIFA World Cup
Here’s how the four groups break down (FIFA world ranking in parentheses).
GROUP A
Mexico (17), Costa Rica, Suriname (137), Dominican Republic (139)
Mexico is looking to win its record-extending 10th Gold Cup after defeating Panama in the 2023 final in Los Angeles. Unlike the U.S., El Tri have been living up to their status as one of the top-ranked nations in the region and are fresh off a victory in March’s Concacaf Nations League final.
Manager Javier Aguirre is bringing nearly all of his top players to this tournament. As such, they’ll be the overwhelming favourite to finish first in this group, and anything but three wins by the Mexicans would be a major surprise.
Player to watch: Raúl Jiménez (Mexico)
Jiménez is still going strong at age 34, having scored 14 goals in all competitions this past season for English Premier League club Fulham. The veteran forward finished as the top scorer in the recent Concacaf Nations League and scored both goals in Mexico’s 2-1 win over Panama in the final.
GROUP B
Canada (30), Honduras (75), El Salvador (81), Curaçao (90)
Canada enters the Gold Cup as one of the top favourites and fresh off winning the inaugural Canadian Shield tournament earlier this month.
The Canadians will be missing key players in captain Alphonso Davies and centre back Moïse Bombito through injury, while influential midfielder Stephen Eustáquio will only be available when/if FC Porto (his pro club) is knocked out of the FIFA Club World Cup, which takes place at the same time.
But Canada has more than enough depth and quality in its roster that it should be considered a serious threat to win the competition.
“The games will be different in the Gold Cup [than the Canadian Shield]. But I think we’ll be able to say, ‘Look, that was a big experience. We came out on top. We won the trophy.’ It’s another step in our overall progress, and now we’re ready for the next biggest challenge. And we want to win that trophy,” coach Jesse Marsch said this week.
Player to watch: Jonathan David (Canada)
The Canadian striker is bound for a high-profile move as a highly sought-after free agent this summer after letting his contract expire at French club Lille OSC. But before then, he has some business to take care of, which includes adding to an all-time leading 34 goals for the men’s team. David has seven goals and two assists in his last nine appearances for Canada.
GROUP C
Panama (33), Jamaica (63), Guatemala (106), Guadeloupe (non-FIFA member)
Group C is essentially a two-horse race between Panama and Jamaica, as the talent gap between them and Guatemala and Guadeloupe is significant.
Panama is a country on the rise, following up on its World Cup debut in 2018 by reaching the finals of the 2023 Gold Cup and the Concacaf Nations League in March. With former England manager Steve McClaren at the helm, Jamaica can call upon a litany of English-based players, including Aston Villa forward Leon Bailey.
After being sleeping giants the past few years, both nations are looking to break out and join Concacaf’s small group of truly elite nations by winning the Gold Cup.
Player to watch: Andre Blake (Jamaica)
The Philadelphia Union veteran debuted for his country in 2014 and is regarded as one of the best shot stoppers in MLS, having been voted the league’s goalkeeper of the year on three occasions. The Jamaican captain was a key figure of the Reggae Boyz when they reached the Gold Cup final in 2017.
GROUP D
United States (16), Haiti (83), Trinidad and Tobago (100), Saudi Arabia (58)
The U.S. national team is in a serious free fall. A humbling 4-0 home defeat to Switzerland in a friendly this week was embarrassing for the Gold Cup hosts and was their fourth straight loss.
Following its first-round exit at last summer’s Copa America, coach Mauricio Pochettino was hired to get the team back on course. But it’s hardly been smooth sailing for the Argentinian, who has an uninspiring 5-5 record since taking over. Star attacker Christian Pulisic has drawn heavy criticism for his decision to skip the Gold Cup so he can recuperate after playing a gruelling season for AC Milan.
The World Cup is a year away, and the Americans, who finished a disappointing fourth at this year’s Concacaf Nations League final, seem poised to lay an egg at this summer’s Gold Cup with Pochettino picking an MLS-heavy squad rather than fielding his best possible team.
This year’s Gold Cup includes invited guest Saudi Arabia, who’ll be making its tournament debut by competing in Group D. The Saudis enter this competition on a down note after suffering a 2-1 home loss to Australia earlier this week in World Cup qualifying.
Player to watch: Brian White (United States)
The American forward has been a prolific goal scorer in MLS ever since being traded to the Vancouver Whitecaps in 2021. Yet, he only has six caps since making his national team debut in 2024. He’s coming off back-to-back 15-goal campaigns in MLS and has already bagged 10 goals through the first half of the 2025 season.
Editor’s note
John Molinaro is one of the leading soccer journalists in Canada, having covered the game for over 25 years for several media outlets, including Sportsnet, CBC Sports and Sun Media. He is currently the editor-in-chief of TFC Republic, a website dedicated to in-depth coverage of Toronto FC and Canadian soccer.
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