USA take on the visitors Guatemala in the semifinal of Golden Cup. The match will be played on Thursday, July 3rd at CITYPARK (St. Louis, MO).
The United States managed to pull themselves together at the decisive moment. The Yanks remain one of the strongest national teams on their continent, but inconsistencies and setbacks continue to haunt them. The failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup remains a glaring stain, and more recently, they crashed out of the CONCACAF Nations League Final Four this spring—on home soil and under Mauricio Pochettino. The situation worsened in June, with back-to-back friendly defeats to Turkey and Switzerland, while tensions reportedly grew in the locker room, particularly surrounding the team’s key figure, Christian Pulisic. Entering yet another “home” tournament under pressure, the U.S. responded well, opening with a commanding 5-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago. They followed up with narrow but crucial 1-0 victories over Saudi Arabia and Haiti, showing greater discipline and defensive solidity. The real test came in the quarterfinal against Costa Rica, where they conceded early, missed a penalty, and lost a late lead—but ultimately prevailed in a penalty shootout despite Keylor Navas’s heroics. The team has now kept clean sheets in four of its last six matches and looks more balanced tactically under pressure.
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Guatemala have historically been a mid-tier side in the region, having never qualified for a World Cup and typically bowing out of the Gold Cup in the quarterfinals—just as they did in the previous edition. They’ve managed to hold their place in Nations League A but have rarely made headlines beyond that. Their World Cup qualification campaign looked promising at first, but they suffered a heavy defeat to Jamaica in June’s final round. That made their 1-0 revenge win over Jamaica in the opening match of this Gold Cup all the more remarkable. Despite a narrow loss to Panama, a 2-1 victory over Guadeloupe was enough to send them into the knockout phase. In the quarterfinals, they faced Canada and got a huge break when Jacob Shaffelburg was sent off late in the first half. Guatemala capitalized on the numerical advantage and eventually leveled the score before edging out their opponents in a dramatic penalty shootout. They’ve now scored in five consecutive matches, and their attacking duo of Mejía and Hernández has shown growing chemistry. However, their defense remains leaky, conceding in four of their last five games.
The Stars and Stripes unsurprisingly dominate this matchup, having won four of the last five meetings with just one defeat. The Americans are unlikely to repeat the mistakes made by their northern neighbors. The bet is on the U.S. to win in regular time with a -1.5 handicap.
Prediction for the match: USA to win with -1.5 handicap.
