Canada Soccer has been drawn in a group with two very strong national sides in Costa Rica and Honduras, as well as Gold Cup debutant French Guiana. This could be an interesting group for the Canadian men, and could serve as a guide to how much progress they have made in the recent months. With expectations of getting out of the group looking tough, the lack of pressure could be a great thing for the tournament.

Looking Forward to Canada Soccer at the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup

In an effort to get a better view of what the Gold Cup could hold for Canada we will first take a look at their historical record against each Honduras, Costa Rica, and French Guiana. We will then take a look at how the last few Gold Cup appearances have been for Canada, and then finish it off with the last few matches Canada has played, and whether some of the younger players will get a shot at this year’s tournament.

Costa Rica

Costa Rica currently sit as the second highest ranked CONCACAF nation in the FIFA World Rankings, coming in at 19th. This is less than surprising to anyone that has watched them since the 2014 World Cup, as they have been a strong performer since then. They are well balanced throughout their squad, and they’re going to pose a very difficult task for the Canadian men.

Costa Rica has Keylor Navas in net, arguably one of the top 15 goalies in the entire world right now. On top of having Navas they have players like Bryan Ruiz, David Guzman, Jose Guillermo Ortiz, and Johan Venegas. All of these are players that could individually pose tough asks for the Canadian men.

Now to look at how Canada has done all-time against Costa Rica, and it’s actually not that poor. All time, Costa Rica and Canada have played each other a total of 18 times, with Canada going 4-7-7 against them, with 14 goals for and 19 goals against. If that’s all you were to look at, it would seem a fair match-up, but it would be unwise to read too far into the historical record.

The last time the Canadian Men’s Team played against Costa Rica was back in the 2015 Gold Cup, and Canada came away with a point in that match after a 0-0 draw. Including international friendlies, Canada is 1-3-1 (W-D-L) against Costa Rica since June 6th, 2007, with five goals for and five goals against in those matches. Another indication that Canada could pull of an upset, but it all depends on how strong the side they bring out is.

Honduras

Honduras is another national team that Canada has become well-acquainted with over the last decade of international soccer. Honduras currently comes in at 65th in the FIFA World Rankings, 52 spots above the Canadians. While they may not be the strongest side in this tournament, they are still a side that needs to be respected in the Canadian men are expecting to get a result out of this match.

Canada has played Honduras as many times as the aforementioned Costa Rica, with 18 games in total being played. In these 18 games against Honduras they are sporting a relatively respectable 6-3-9 record with 24 goals for and 29 goals against. Most of their meetings have been tight affairs, aside from the rather embarrassing World Cup Qualifier in Honduras back in 2012. Hopefully the team will play with a bit more grit and pride this time around than that one. Since that ridiculous result, they played once again in September of 2016 and lost in a much more respectable scoreline of 2-1.

It’s difficult to get a good feel on the skill level of the Honduran players, mainly because a vast majority of them play in the professional league in their home country. Aside from the league not receiving a legitimate amount of coverage, the amount of scouting on it is just as sparse. Much like what was said before, you don’t want to go off historical results, but that might just be the best bet moving forward for this game.

French Guiana

French Guiana is a great story of an underdog, giving much of the people in their home country to be proud of. This is the first time in their nation’s soccer history that they have qualified for the Gold Cup. The most recent international competition that they qualified for was the 2014 Caribbean Cup in Jamaica, where they failed to advance past the group stage with a record of 1-1-1. For reference, they were in a group with Curacao, who they beat 4-1, Trinidad & Tobago, who they lost to 4-2, and Cuba, who they drew with 1-1.

They recently played fellow Gold Cup group stage members Honduras in qualification matches for the Gold Cup, winning the first match 3-1 and losing the second match in Honduras 3-0. With a win over Honduras this could show that they have quality enough to compete, and they should not be taken lightly by the Canadian men.

The French Guiana squad is littered with members currently plying their trade across the ocean in France. With so many of them playing in quality leagues over in Europe, they could very well be a better squad than most would think. As for historic results against Canada, there are none, as the two nations have never met each other before.

Gold Cup History and The Past Couple Months

The 2015 Gold Cup, while not overly successful, did end up being a respectable one for Canada. Being drawn into a group stage with El Salvador, Jamaica, and Costa Rica is a tough ask for anyone. And to take into account that Canada only gave up a single goal is looking at it optimistically, as they failed to score a single goal themselves, leaving the tournament with an 0-2-1 record, no goals for, and only a single goal against.

The 2013 Gold Cup was another Gold Cup where the Canadian men failed to score a single goal in the group stage. That time around they were drawn against Martinique, Mexico, and Panama. They went 0-1-2, had zero goals for, and gave up three goals in three matches.

The past couple of months has seen some relative improvement in play for the national team, but still has shown that they are well off the pace to keep up with other top CONCACAF nations like the United States and Mexico consistently.

2017 Gold Cup Outlook

While many are overlooking Canada in this group, with most paying attention to Costa Rica and to a lesser extent Honduras, this could be a good barometer of where the nation is heading and how Canada has progressed in the last year. There are plenty of young and promising young players in the youth national teams that are deserving of a call-up, but the direction remains to be seen. Canada should be competitive, but the chances of them making a deep run is unlikely. At this point, progress and improvement over the last two tournaments is the biggest key.