The Concacaf Gold Cup kicks off this weekend, marking the final major international tournament in which the United States, Mexico, and Canada will participate before hosting the men's FIFA World Cup in 2026. Those North American teams are the only ones who have lifted the Gold Cup before.
However, with other contenders coming off World Cup qualification matches to join the North American teams in the field, and some of the favorites missing stars due to the simultaneous FIFA Club World Cup, it feels like this year could see a tournament filled with surprises.
With that in mind, we provide you with one thing you need to know about each team participating in the championship.
Group A
Mexico (FIFA ranking: 17)
El Tri go into the Gold Cup as the defending champions, not only of this tournament but also fresh off their first Concacaf Nations League title. Yet, it still doesn't feel like Mexico is head and shoulders above many of its rivals in the region, especially the North Americans.
This tournament gives the team the opportunity to prove that not only is it the top team in Concacaf, but also that things are going well ahead of the World Cup returning to the country in 2026. The failure to get out of the group in 2022 still lingers fresh, but the recent triumphs have swung the mood in a far more positive direction.
The hope is that a strong defensive base will hold and that in addition to getting good showings from veteran forward Ral Jimnez, the hero of the Nations League final four games but also of the quarterfinal series with Honduras. Alexis Vega will also replicate the creative role he played for Toluca on the way to the Liga MX title. Contributions from younger talent like AC Milan forward Santiago Gimenez or even 16-year-old rising star Gilberto Mora, who made the final roster, would also be welcomed.
Costa Rica (FIFA ranking: 54)
Manager Miguel Herrera is here. So is veteran goalkeeper Keylor Navas. It's not the 2014 cycle, but both men are a joy to watch and will feature, Navas after Herrera convinced him to return to the national team following his international retirement last year. Generational change has been the narrative around Costa Rica for years, but Navas aside, it looks to finally have taken place. Sixteen players on the Gold Cup squad were born in the 2000s.
Suriname (FIFA ranking: 137)
Suriname is led by manager Stanley Menzo, a legendary Ajax goalkeeper who played under Johan Cruyff. In addition to his on-field trophies, Menzo was a pioneer for Black players in the Netherlands, standing up to abuse throughout his illustrious career. Many of his players were born in the Netherlands, but despite suiting up for the Dutch national team, Menzo himself was born in Paramaribo, Suriname's capital.
Dominican Republic (FIFA ranking: 139)
The D.R. is making its debut at the tournament, the latest moment of success for the country after qualifying for the Paris Olympics last year. Former Real Madrid forward Mariano Daz recently recommitted to the national team as its rise continues, scoring in a March friendly against Puerto Rico.
Daz had debuted -- and scored -- in a 2013 friendly against Haiti before deciding to hold out for a chance to play for the country of his birth, Spain. Instead, he has now scored two goals for them, 12 years and a day apart.
Group B
Canada (FIFA ranking: 30)
Canada is the only team other than Mexico or the U.S. to win the tournament, but it's getting harder and harder to remember that magical moment back in 2000. While absences because of injury or the Club World Cup (or both in the case of mega-star Alphonso Davies) will dent the team, the Canada squad continues to look more and more dangerous.
Things will still have to go just right for Jesse Marsch to win a first major trophy in a quarter-century, but forwards Jonathan David and Promise David arrive in good form, and the midfield has lots of quality as well. Without center back Mose Bombito, the biggest question is an unwanted throwback to the years before Canada locked up 2022 qualification. Can this team defend well enough to return to the trophy stand?
Honduras (FIFA ranking: 75)
While he scored his first-ever goal for the national team in the 2013 edition of the Gold Cup, Nashville SC defender Andy Najar is opting not to play in the Gold Cup, suiting up for Honduras in World Cup qualification, but returning for MLS play after. The fullback's absence will be felt both at the back by a Honduras team with defensive questions, but also going forward as chance-creation has been slim, illustrated by an own goal being their only tally in a recent qualifier against the Cayman Islands.
El Salvador (FIFA ranking: 81)
After struggling in 2024, El Salvador turned to Hernan "El Bolillo" Gomez to right the ship. He is best known in the region for getting Panama to the 2018 World Cup, the country's first-ever qualification, but he's also done it for Ecuador and his native Colombia. He previously worked with Honduras and Guatemala in the Concacaf region.
La Selecta have never gotten to the semifinal stage of the Gold Cup. If that changes with a magical run this year, Gomez will rightly burnish his reputation as a miracle-worker.
Curacao (FIFA ranking: 90)
While player recruitment always has been a big part of the strategy for Curacao, manager Dick Advocaat is happy to lean on experience. Led by center back Cuco Martina with 68, eight players in his Gold Cup squad have 25 or more caps, with five of those players having 40 or more. Those are remarkable numbers for a team that doesn't play as many friendly matches as North American rivals like Mexico or the United States.
Group C
Panama (FIFA ranking: 33)
Having knocked off the United States to get to the Nations League final in March, beat the U.S. in the Copa Amrica group stage last summer and earn a shootout win to make the previous Gold Cup final, Panama manager Thomas Christiansen's group has began to earn a reputation as a giant slayer, or at least the slayer of a very specific giant. Still, the question remains whether the team will be good enough to get over the hump and actually lift a trophy rather than simply making finals.
Jamaica (FIFA ranking: 63)
Even as manager Steve McClaren leverages his connections in England to convince more eligible players to sign up for the Reggae Boyz, a former Manchester United player already in the fold keeps earning a place. Ravel Morrison spent the last season in Dubai with a lower-league club called Precision FC, but is on the Gold Cup squad and looking to earn a starting role in the midfield.
Guatemala (FIFA ranking: 106)
While Los Chapines remain largely based in the Guatemalan league (historic Guatemala City clubs Municipal and Comunicaciones well-represented, as is reigning champion Antigua), manager Luis Fernando Tena is also happy to add U.S.-based players to his squad, many of whom were born outside Central America.
The latest is Damian Rivera, a Rhode Island-born attacker who moved to Phoenix Rising of the USL Championship this season after coming up in the New England Revolution system. Rivera played for the U.S. and Costa Rica at the youth level, but YouTuber-slash-scout Juan Rodas learned he was eligible for Guatemala and added him to the list of players he's helped convince to put on the blue and white shirt.
Guadeloupe (FIFA ranking: N/A)
Not being a member of FIFA, the Gold Cup is the top competition to which Guadeloupe can qualify, and Les Gwada Boys did so by winning both legs of their Gold Cup qualification series with Nicaragua in March, getting 1-0 victories in each match. At age 39, defender Mddy Lina is the oldest field player on a Gold Cup roster.
Group D
United States (FIFA ranking: 16)
At some point, the analysts looking at the USMNT's Gold Cup chances will need to look at the players who are going to contest the tournament rather than those who aren't. Already, there were worries about a summer without Club World Cup participants Weston McKennie, Tim Weah, and Gio Reyna. Then, Christian Pulisic opted out, while Sergio Dest and Antonee Robinson also had to bow out because of injury. So too did forward Folarin Balogun and goalkeeper Zack Steffen, among others.
It all means lots of opportunities for players to stump for inclusion in the 2026 World Cup roster, whether it be a breakout from Paxten Aaronson, continued good play from Vancouver Whitecaps standouts Sebastian Berhalter and Brian White, or great center back play from regulars Chris Richards and Mark McKenzie. Manager Mauricio Pochettino seems flustered that he's spending this much time speaking about getting a response from his team and encouraging players to come in. Winning the Gold Cup with this group wouldn't cure the physical ailments, but it would have the U.S. feeling a lot better about next summer.
Haiti (FIFA ranking: 83)
Haiti's final Gold Cup roster boasts players who play their club soccer in 15 different nations, in locations as diverse as Ecuador, where center back Ricardo Ad has become a fixture for LDU Quito, to Lithuania, where PSG academy product Garissone Innocent played goalkeeper for Riteriai this past season. It fits that manager Sebastien Migne is well-traveled, having worked in the Republic of the Congo, Kenya, and Cameroon, crossing paths in Africa with fellow Frenchman and group rival Herv Renard.
Trinidad and Tobago (FIFA ranking: 100)
New manager Dwight Yorke was in the Trinidad and Tobago squad for its best-ever finish at the Gold Cup in 2000. Yorke scored once on the way to the semifinals, where the Caribbean team fell to eventual champion Canada. While they've twice made the quarterfinals since, the last time out of the group was back in 2015, 10 years and four full editions ago.
Saudi Arabia (FIFA ranking: 58)
After guest appearances from Qatar before and after the 2022 World Cup, Concacaf is getting ahead on the 2034 World Cup by inviting Saudi Arabia as the guest team. While confederation officials say they invited French manager Renard's squad in part because of Concacaf's Memorandum of Understanding with the Asian Football Confederation, its partnership with the nation's sovereign wealth fund also has to have been a strong motivator.
