Canadian national men's soccer team players are shown during practice at the BMO Field in Toronto on Saturday, March 26, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Tijana Martin
Canada will open the CONCACAF Gold Cup against Guadeloupe, which blanked Guyana 2-0 in preliminary play Tuesday to advance to the main tournament field.
The 47th-ranked Canadian men will host Guadeloupe, which is unranked because as part of France it is not a member of FIFA, at Toronto’s BMO Field on June 27. Canada then heads to Houston’s Shell Energy Stadium to complete Group D play against No. 116 Guatemala on July 1 and No. 165 Cuba on July 4.
Unranked Martinique faced No. 166 Puerto Rico and No. 139 St. Kitts and Nevis took on unranked French Guiana in late preliminary matches Tuesday.
The 12-team qualifying competition in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., filled the final three berths in the 16-country Gold Cup, which runs through July 16 across 15 stadiums in 14 cities. BMO Field is the only Canadian stop and that’s for one match.
Guadeloupe thumped No. 113 Antigua and Barbuda 5-0 on Friday to advance to the second-round qualifier. No. 170 Guyana defeated No. 175 Grenada 5-3 in a penalty shootout Saturday.
It marks the fifth time Guadeloupe has made the Gold Cup group stage. The team known as Les Gwada Boys reached the semifinals in 2007, eventually losing 1-0 to Mexico (Canada also made the semifinals, losing 2-1 to the U.S. after an Atiba Hutchinson goal in stoppage time was controversially ruled offside)
Guadeloupe reached the quarterfinals in 2009 and failed to make it out of the group stage in 2011 and 2021.
Canada is 2-1-0 all-time against Guadeloupe, with the last two meetings both coming in group play at the Gold Cup.
A Dwayne De Rosario penalty gave Canada a 1-0 win the last time the two met, in June 2011 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. Guadeloupe won 2-1 when they squared off in June 2007 at the Orange Bowl in Miami.
Canada won 2-1 in an October 1981 friendly in Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe.
The Canadian men are coming off a 2-0 loss to the 13th-ranked U.S.in Sunday’s CONCACAF Nations League final four in Las Vegas.
Tuesday’s game at DRV Pink Stadium was tied 0-0 when it was halted at the 14:53 mark because of lightning in the area. The delay lasted 70 minutes.
Guadeloupe went ahead soon after play resumed thanks to an 18th-minute Liam Gordon own goal. A lunging Anthony Baron kept the ball in play before it went into touch near the Guyana goal and Gordon’s attempt at a clearance hit a teammate and rolled into his own goal.
Guadeloupe could have led 4-0 at the break had it not been for some errant finishing and some fine saves by Guyana goalkeeper McKenzie-Lyle, who plays for English semi-pro side Welling United FC.
Andreaw Gravillon, who plays for Italian Serie A club Torino on loan from France’s Reims, made it 2-0 in the 57th minute with a spectacular long-range free kick.
York United FC defender Jonathan Grant started for Guyana with Vancouver FC defender Marcus Simmons on the bench. Forward Emery Welshman, a former Toronto FC draft choice and Forge FC player, was also on the Guyana bench but was nursing an injury.
Canada has staged Gold Cup games just once before – in 2015 when BMO Field hosted a group-stage doubleheader that saw Canada tie Costa Rica 0-0 and Jamaica edge El Salvador 1-0.
The Canadian men have not lost at BMO Field since September 2010 when they were beaten 2-0 by Peru. Canada has gone 15-0-6 at the lakefront stadium since, outscoring the opposition 54-6.
Mexico has won the Gold Cup eight times, compared to seven for the defending champion U.S.
Canada won in 2000, defeating Mexico and Trinidad and Tobago in the knockout rounds before dispatching Colombia 2-0 in the final at Los Angeles’ Memorial Coliseum.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 20, 2023.
