Canada vs Cuba Prediction: Concacaf Gold Cup Odds

Edgar Chaput
July 3, 2023

After being held to back-to-back draws, John Herdman’s group has one more chance to survive Group D at the Concacaf Gold Cup. They play Cuba in Houston, Texas on Tuesday. The Cubans have been battered and bruised so far in the tournament.

CANMNT is yet again the favourite, this time even more so than in the two previous games. Canada is currently pegged at -833 to Cuba’s +1700. Even a draw is considered unlikely, priced at +720.

Canada -1667
Draw +1000
Cuba +2400

Canada vs Cuba Gold Cup Betting Analysis

The Canadians and Cubans have crossed paths on the football pitch often in recent years, although the last time was before the pandemic. Overall, the true north, strong and free hold a 9-3-2 advantage of their island rivals.

Recent meetings were all in summer 2019, the last Gold Cup and Nations League tournaments. Two hammerings of 6-0 and 7-0 culminated with a much closer 1-0 victory. Those were the early signs that things were starting to change for CANMNT and as fans know bigger and better things followed down the road. The last time Cuba tasted victory over Canada was, believe it or not, 20 years ago in July 2003 at the Gold Cup that year.

Canada

John Herdman and Canadian football fans are going to want the recent domination over Cuba to persist. Anything less than a win puts the team’s chances of advancing in serious jeopardy A defeat assures that they don’t.

Saturday night was an opportunity for Canada’s national squad to make up for their blunders at home to Guadeloupe earlier in the week. It ended up being a frustrating evening, one from which the conclusions to draw are unclear. The 0-0 draw spoke to how uneven this version of the team is. Yes, they are missing their best players, but the b-team hasn’t done itself any favours. Junior Hoilet had a few good chances to give his side a lead but lacked finishing. Lucas Cavallini and Jonathan Osorio were decent presences on the pitch, but also to no avail ultimately. “Finishing” being the operative word. This Canadian team can bring the ball up into the final third, but they can’t complete the task.

Cuba

If there was ever a team ripe for the picking, especially a CANMNT that desperately needs three points, it’s Cuba. With all due respect to their efforts, they’ve looked awful so far in the tournament.

The 1-0 defeat in the opening salvo to Guatemala masked some glaring deficiencies for those who missed the game. Anyone to saw it knew Cuba was the second best squad on the pitch. The second game against Guadeloupe was the emphatic eye opener. Cuba’s defence is sorely lacking presence in the final third. Guadeloupe ran rampant when approaching the box, which led to not one, not two, but three excellent first half goals. Guadeloupe’s Matthias Patheon had himself a field day, especially on his first (13^th minute), a rocket from good distance that stands as one of the goals of the Gold Cup so far. He earned himself a brace, scoring again in the 43rd minute.

In Cuba’s defence, they had two goals called back due to offside, so it wasn’t as if they couldn’t do anything at all. But overall, this team is not very good, has not played well, and heads into the third match with Canada playing only for pride. Should Canada stumble here, they’ll have fully merited their elimination from the tournament.