Canada and Guadeloupe will square off at the Gold Cup for the first time in over a dozen years, beginning on Tuesday at BMO Field in Toronto.

The Canucks come into this tournament off a disappointing result in the CONCACAF Nations League final, losing 2-0 to the United States, while Les Gwada Boys got past Guyana 2-0 in their second-round playoff to advance into the group stage of this tournament for a second successive time.

Match preview

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It has been over 23 years since the Canadian men came away with some silverware, capturing the 2000 edition of the Gold Cup, and a performance like we saw last Sunday at the Nations League will not cut it as Les Rouges looked susceptible to the counter throughout the 90 minutes against the Americans.

That was the first time John Herdman's men had failed to find the back of the net since a 1-0 defeat to Belgium at the 2022 World Cup, while it was their first defeat against a CONCACAF country since dropping a 2-1 decision at Honduras over a year ago.

Canada are already assured of a place at the 2026 World Cup as co-hosts with the US and Mexico, and Herdman will use this tournament as an opportunity to see how the youngsters may fit into this squad, as seven players chosen for this competition are without a senior cap, with another four appearing fewer than 10 times for the national team.

The Canadians have made it beyond the group stage of the Gold Cup in each of their previous three appearances and have not lost an opening match in the group stage since falling 1-0 to Martinique in 2013.

During a successful 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign, Canada were happy to hang back and hit teams on the counter with explosive pace down the flanks, but at the most recent Nations League, we saw them have a lot more of the ball, with over 60% possession on four occasions.

It has been nearly four years since this team last suffered a defeat against a Caribbean nation, and it came at the 2019 Gold Cup when they squandered a 2-0 lead in the quarter-finals, conceding three second-half strikes in a 3-2 loss to Haiti.

Since July 2021, the Canucks have only come back to win one international fixture after conceding the opening goal while suffering only one defeat over that same time frame when drawing first blood.

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It took a pair of qualifiers to punch their ticket back into the Gold Cup, but Guadeloupe were full marks in those encounters, as they were clinical in front of goal versus Antigua and Barbuda, winning 5-0, before shutting out Guyana.

Two years ago, Jocelyn Angloma's side failed to register a point in the group phase, though they were on the verge of earning a result versus Jamaica and Suriname, conceding beyond the 75th minute to lose both encounters by a 2-1 score.

That was their first appearance at the Gold Cup since 2011, with Guadeloupe having lost their previous seven group fixtures in this competition, while their last victory at this tournament occurred in July 2009 (2-0 over Nicaragua).

Guadeloupe have only made it beyond the group stage of this tournament twice in 2009 and 2007, upsetting Canada in 07 by a 2-1 score en route to a semi-final appearance that year, their best-ever finish at a Gold Cup.

Four of their five goals conceded in the recent Nations League B tournament came in the second half as Guadeloupe finished with nine points, three fewer than they had in their debut at that competition when they were in League C.

They have not lost a match when scoring first since that previously mentioned defeat to Jamaica in their second group game at the 2021 Gold Cup.

Over the past 10 years, Les Gwada Boys have only scored twice in the second half of a Gold Cup encounter, both of which came in the final 25 minutes of their 3-2 defeat versus Panama in 2011.

Team News

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Canada will not be fielding their best squad for this tournament, with Alphonso Davies, Jonathan David, Cyle Larin and Tajon Buchanan among the absentees, which means Jacen Russell-Rowe, Ali Ahmed, Victor Loturi, Zac McGraw, Moise Bombito, Dominick Zator and Tom McGill will each have an opportunity to earn their first senior caps.

On their social media account this week the Canadians announced some last minute roster changes with Stephen Eustaquio and Sam Adekugbe being replaced by Liam Fraser and Jayden Nelson.

Dayne St. Clair, Richie Laryea, Lucas Cavallini, Kamal Miller, Jonathan Osorio and Junior Hoilett are all returning after taking this team to the semi-finals of this tournament two years ago.

Should he feature in each of their group fixtures Milan Borjan would tie Mark Watson for the sixth-most caps as a member of the Canucks, with the Canadian goalkeeper currently on 75, Cavallini will move into a three-way tie for fourth in goals with his next strike, putting him alongside Dale Mitchell and John Catliff, while Hoilett can draw even with Ali Gerba for ninth in all-time tallies.

Meddy Lina is the most experienced player chosen for Guadeloupe in this competition with 21 national team appearances, one more than Anthony Baron, while Ajaccio defenders Cedric Avinel and Mickael Alphonse have 17 and 14 caps, respectively.

Davy Rouyard, who plays his club football in Ligue 2 at Bordeaux, posted back-to-back clean sheets in their playoff encounters, while an own-goal by Liam Gordon and an insurance marker from Andreaw Gravillon helped them defeat Guyana to advance into the group stage of this competition.

In their first playoff match versus Antigua and Barbuda, Steve Solvet, Matthias Phaeton, Luther Archimede, Steven Davidas and Jordan Tell gave them a convincing victory.

Canada possible starting lineup:
Borjan; Bombito, Vitoria, Miller; Laryea, Millar, Osorio, Ahmed; Hoilett, Cavallini, Shaffelburg

Guadeloupe possible starting lineup:
Rouyard; Alphonse, Avinel, Gravillon, Lina; Annette, Solvet, Plumain, Rotsen, Archimede; Tell

We say: Canada 2-0 Guadeloupe

While this is not the most talented Canadian squad, they still have plenty of quality available at this competition along with some raw talent, and we believe Guadeloupe will struggle in their build-up as many players on that squad have not competed at an event as big as this.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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