The 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup will be the 14th edition of the biennial international football tournament. The event features nations from North America, Central America and the Caribbean region and will take place between the 7th and 26th of July 2017. Interestingly, the winners of this tournament will play the winners of the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup in a playoff to determine who will play in the 2021 Confederations Cup.
The 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup will take place in the United States as it has been every year since 1991. This is mainly due to the number of venues required to host matches throughout the tournament and the infrastructure which is already in place in the country.
A total of 14 stadiums will be used during the tournament with the AT&T Stadium being the largest at a capacity of 100,000 people. The final will be held at the Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara which has a capacity of 68,500 people.
The 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup will be contested between 12 teams split into three groups of four teams. The three countries from the North American zone all qualified automatically, which are United States, Mexico and Canada. The four teams that qualified from the Central American zone are Honduras, Panama, El Salvador and Costa Rica, and the four teams from the Caribbean include Curacao, Jamaica, French Guiana and Martinique. Nicaragua also qualified from winning their playoff match between the Caribbean Zone fifth place and Central American Zone fifth place teams. From these 12 teams, only French Guiana will be making their CONCACAF Gold Cup debut.
The defending champions are Mexico and they have been seeded for the tournament in Group C with El Salvador, Curacao and Jamaica. This means that the two finalists from the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup will meet in the group stage of the tournament as Mexico defeated Jamaica 3-1 in the final two years ago.
【2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup Final: Jamaica vs. Mexico】
Having said that, they still boast enough talent in their ranks to top this group and can be backed at 3/10 to do so with 888sport.
【2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup Outright Winner Odds】
※ Current Odds Date & Time: July 5, 12:00 p.m. (GMT)
Latest Odds: CONCACAF Gold Cup (courtesy of bet365)
Mexico’s biggest threat in Group C will come from Jamaica who once again has a strong and quick group of players in their squad. Several players compete in the MLS making them familiar with playing in the United States but a recent defeat at the hands of group rivals Curacao has given the Reggae Boys something to think about. Jamaica is 6/1 with bookie 888sport to win the group.
【2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup Group C Winner Odds】
※ Current Odds Date & Time: July 5, 12:00 p.m. (GMT)
Curacao looks like being the team who could disrupt the top two and will be in a confident mood having recently won the Caribbean Cup. They have many players from the Dutch league on their squad and have the potential to cause a surprise in the group. Curacao is 7/1 to win Group C and 6/4 to be eliminated at the quarter-final stage of the tournament, both with 888sport.
Moving to Group A and although this group does not feature either Mexico or the United States, it could be the most exciting group of the tournament.
Honduras, Costa Rica and Canada will each believe they have what it takes to win the group. Costa Rica starts as the favourites to win the group priced at 3/4 with 888sport and if they overcome Honduras in their opening match, they should go on to claim top spot. They have a very strong looking squad boasting the likes of Joel Campbell, Giancarlo Gonzalez, Bryan Oviedo and Bryan Ruiz. It would be a surprise not to see them win Group A and they are available at 7/2 to win the whole tournament.
【2014 World Cup Costa Rica Highlights】
Second place in Group A is between Honduras and Canada. If both teams, as expected, win their match against French Guiana, then it could come down to the final group game between the two to see who joins Costa Rica in the quarter-final.
Having won the Copa Centroamerica in January, Honduras has struggled of late in failing to win a competitive match. Canada cannot qualify for the 2018 World Cup so this tournament is all about looking towards the future and they have some good young players including 17-year-old Alphonso Davies, who will be hoping to make his mark in this event. However, Honduras holds the psychological edge over Canada having eliminated them from World Cup qualifying and that could make the difference.
【2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup Group A Winner Odds】
※ Current Odds Date & Time: July 5, 12:00 p.m. (GMT)
The final group, Group B, is home to the United States, Panama, Martinique and Nicaragua. With the top two teams guaranteed to progress to the quarter-finals, the United States should have little problem in winning the group even with a depleted squad. Bruce Arena will be without players like Christian Pulisic and Bobby Wood plus other overseas talent. Much of their roster comes from the MLS and with the 2018 World Cup around the corner, every player will be battling for a place on the squad.
The United States is available at 3/10 to win Group B and 7/4 to win the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup with 888sport.
【2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup Group B Winner Odds】
※ Current Odds Date & Time: July 5, 12:00 p.m. (GMT)
Panama will be the greatest threat to the United States in Group B having picked up a draw against them in World Cup qualifying. Since then they have also held Costa Rica and Honduras, so they cannot be underestimated in this tournament.
Panama defeated the United States in the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup so they will not be worried about facing them again this year. At 3/1, Panama makes an interesting bet to win Group B and can also be backed at 20/1 to win the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup with 888sport.
Looking at individual honours briefly, there are several contenders to finish the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup as top goal scorer. Arsenal’s Joel Campbell is perhaps the pick of the bunch at 5/1 and if Panama is to go deep, Gabriel Torres makes a good bet at 8/1. If Mexico is to win their eighth CONCACAF Gold Cup, Rodolfo Pizarro is the man to watch and he can be backed at 5/1 to finish as top goal scorer.
【2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup Top Goalscorer Odds】
※ Current Odds Date & Time: July 5, 12:00 p.m. (GMT)
Back to the main tournament and there are three teams who can realistically win it, which are none other than the United States, Mexico and Costa Rica.
Considering they are closest to their strongest squad out of the three teams, Costa Rica makes an interesting bet at 7/2 to win the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup. They have the toughest looking group of the three but this will make them ready for the challenges in the latter stages of the tournament. The only thing which may prevent them from winning the event is inexperience in the final but with the United States and Mexico selecting under-strength squads, this could be their year.
For those looking to place a bet on an outsider, Panama at 20/1 makes a good bet. They also have a near full strength squad and have performed well recently against the other top teams in the tournament. However, in terms of the favourites for the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup, it is difficult to ignore the chances of Costa Rica.
