MIAMI, Florida – It will be a battle of unbeaten teams in Group B of the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup, as Mexico take on Haiti, while Honduras face Qatar on Thursday evening at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
Mexico vs. Haiti
The two teams who got off to winning starts in Group B will meet for a chance to make it two straight, as Mexico take on Haiti.
It will be the first Gold Cup meeting between the two sides since their epic 2019 semifinal when an extra time penalty conversion from Raul Jimenez lifted Mexico to a 1-0 win. Coincidentally, that match also took place at Glendale, Arizona’s State Farm Stadium, the site of Thursday’s affair.
Mexico lead the all-time series 8W-2D-0L while outscoring Les Grenadiers 27-2, so a Haiti win would be historic.
The Caribbean side showed much of the flair that embodied their 2019 semifinal run in their opening match of this tournament on Sunday. Down 1-0 to Qatar, Haiti rallied and picked up a 2-1 win thanks to a goal in second half stoppage time from Frantzdy Pierrot. Coupled with their three comeback wins in the 2019 edition, Haiti have now rallied for four victories in the last three editions of the Gold Cup.
Duckens Nazon tallied the equalizer in what was his team-leading eighth career Gold Cup goal, while the likes of Carlens Arcus and Alexandre Pierre provided ample support in the back, with Arcus making three ball recoveries and GK Pierre registering two saves and two clearances.
The Jaime Lozano era is off to a flying start for Mexico after their 4-0 win against Honduras to open the tournament. Luis Romo had a pair of goals and an assist and was joined by Luis Chavez and Orbelin Pineda on the scoresheet.
Romo’s first goal just 49 seconds into the game was the fastest goal scored by Mexico in a Gold Cup, while Chavez was impeccable in the middle of the park with 50 passes completed and two ball recoveries.
Two teams who play with great panache should make for an entertaining spectacle to decide who will take over first place.
Honduras vs. Qatar
The day’s games in Glendale will begin with a pair of sides hungry to shake off an opening defeat and earn their first victory of the tournament, as Honduras and Qatar meet for the second straight time in a Gold Cup.
These two nations squared off in the 2021 tournament during which Qatar emerged with a 2-0 victory on the strength of goals from Homan Ahmed and Abdulaziz Abdullah.
Qatar succumbed to Haiti in their opening match of this edition on a second half stoppage time goal, so the 2021 semifinalists will be keen to right the ship and finish out the group with two wins to try to put themselves in a good position to reach the knockout stage.
Yusuf Abdurisag scored the lone Qatar goal against Haiti and will try to achieve the same feat against the Catrachos. Bassam Alrawi was also a menace going forward and supplied the assist on the Abdurisag score.
The 4-0 loss to Mexico for Honduras was the fourth time in five Gold Cups that they lost their opening match, and only once in those four occasions did, they manage to reach the knockout stage after dropping their first match, in 2017.
With that in mind, a full three points is imperative for the Central Americans and certainly the players are there to do it.
GK Luis Lopez is a steady hand in net with 40 career saves in 12 Gold Cup matches. MF Deybi Flores is a workhorse in midfield and had four ball recoveries against Mexico, while dangerous FW Alberth Elis was fouled five times against Mexico and will be eager to find his first Gold Cup goal.
