Monday’s CONCACAF Gold Cup action concludes with a Group C matchup featuring Jamaica and Guatemala at Dignity Health Tennis Center.

The Reggae Boyz are coming off a 3-0 victory against the Guatemalans in World Cup qualifying on Tuesday, enabling them to finish top of that group.

Match preview

A solid second-round World Cup qualification phase has Jamaica feeling pretty good about themselves heading into this tournament.

Steve McClaren’s men were a perfect 4-0 in the second round of qualifying and enter this competition, on a two-match winning run, without a single goal conceded over that stretch.

Since their 4-2 defeat versus the United States last November the Jamaicans are unbeaten in their previous seven matches versus CONCACAF opposition, dropping points in only two of those instances.

Jamaica have made it beyond the group stage of the Gold Cup on five consecutive occasions, going unbeaten in their last three games in this phase of the competition.

The Jamaicans have not lost their opening group match at this tournament since 2009 when Canada beat them 1-0 in Carson, the same venue where Monday’s fixture takes place.

They are unbeaten at the Gold Cup versus the Guatemalans, winning five of their six all-time meetings against them in this competition, including a 1-0 triumph two years ago.

While Tuesday’s match did not go as they had hoped, Guatemala are still in relatively good form heading into the 2025 Gold Cup.

That defeat ended a three-match unbeaten run for Luis Fernando Tena’s side across all competitions, with Los Mayas winning two of those contests.

This normally rock-solid defensive unit have been exposed more than usual this year, conceding in five of their last six matches, and allowing multiple goals on three occasions.

Another defeat this weekend would mark the first time that this team will have suffered consecutive defeats since June to July 2024.

Guatemala are unbeaten in their previous four group fixtures at the Gold Cup, finishing top of their group two years ago for the first time under the current tournament format.

Los Chapines have not lost consecutive matches versus Caribbean opposition since 2023, following up their Gold Cup quarter-final defeat to Jamaica (1-0) with a 3-2 loss against Trinidad and Tobago at the CONCACAF Nations League just over three months later.

Jamaica form (all competitions):

Guatemala form (all competitions):

Team News

The Jamaicans will be without Michail Antonio for this tournament, with the West Ham United striker still recovering from a horrific car crash last year, but captain Andre Blake will be available despite hurting his knee last month.

Jon Russell netted the winner for them on Tuesday, with Warner Brown scoring a brace in their comfortable triumph against the Guatemalans.

Only three players kept their place in the Guatemala starting 11 from matchday three to four of qualifying, Nicholas Hagen, Jose Morales and Jose Carlos Pinto.

Darwin Lom and Oscar Santis are the top two goalscorers selected for this competition, each with a dozen goals for the national team.

Jamaica possible starting lineup:

Blake; Latibeaudiere, Lowe, King, Bell; Russell, Morrison; Campbell, Gray, Bailey; Brown

Guatemala possible starting lineup:

Hagen; Herrera, Pinto, Ardon, Aguilar; Castellanos, Saravia; Santis, Escobar, Ramirez; Lom

We say: Jamaica 1-0 Guatemala

The Jamaicans' momentum and experience in this competition should be enough to defeat a Guatemalan side that have made their share of defensive errors throughout the year.  

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Joel Lefevre

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