July 5 – Mexico will be returning to the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas for the Gold Cup semi-final assuming they beat Costa Rica in Arlington on July 8. The US will head for the Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego if they beat Canada.
In early June Mexico were in Las Vegas for the Nations League Final Four, losing to the USA 3-0 in the semi-final but beating Panama 1-0 for the third spot.
Since then the Mexicans have fired their coach, brought in an interim and won twice in their group stages of the Gold Cup before suffering a surprise loss to Qatar in Santa Clara at the weekend in a game they dominated but couldn’t break down Qatar’s packed defensive lines and gamesmanship.
If Mexico beat Costa Rica they will face either Panama or Qatar – Panama have been improving with every game and will start as favourites against Qatar.
The US look to have a much easier route. Having dropped 17 of their Nations League winning squad, they have come into the Gold Cup with a team primarily drawn from the MLS and Liga MX. They were fortunate to grab a late draw against Jamaica in their group opening game but since then have had two easy matches to find their feet against St Kitts and Nevis and Trinidad and Tobago.
They meet a Canadian team that they beat in the Nations League final 2-0 and which has similarly dropped star players for the Gold Cup. Canada opened with two draws before beating a depleted Cuba, but have failed to convince so far, not least front of goal.
A US rematch against Jamaica in San Diego is an exciting prospect if Jamaica’s Premier League forward line starts to fulfil on its promise. But overcoming a resurgent Guiatemala is a major challenge for Jamaica.
The Quarterfinal doubleheaders will be played as follows:
Saturday, July 8, 2023 – AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX
QF3: 7:00 PM (6:00 PM) Panama vs Qatar
QF4: 9:30 PM (8:30 PM) Mexico vs Costa Rica
Sunday, July 9, 2023 – TQL Stadium, Cincinnati, OH
QF1: 5:00 PM (5:00 PM) Guatemala vs Jamaica
QF2: 7:30 PM (7:30 PM) United States vs Canada
Semi-finals
Wednesday, July 12, 2023
SF2: 7:30 PM (4:30 PM) WQF2 vs. WQF3 – Snapdragon Stadium, San Diego, CA
SF1: 10:00 PM (7:00 PM) WQF1 vs. WQF4 – Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, NV
Final
Sunday, July 16, 2023 – SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, CA
F: 7:30 PM (4:30 PM) WSF1 vs WSF2
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