The 2021 edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup will bring quite a few changes, and one of those will be the inclusion of a preliminary phase to allocate three spots in CONCACAF's tournament.
Three of these teams will have the honor of joining some of the most laureated teams in the region in the group stage. Mexico, the USMNT, Canada, Costa Rica, and Jamaica, among other teams, are waiting to find out the names of the teams that will join them in the first round of the tournament.
The process to choose the teams that entered the preliminary round was sorted out with the CONCACAF Nations League. Pots included four third-placed teams from League A, the four runners-up in League B, and the winners of each group in League C. The top six teams in the CONCACAF rankings were seeded, so they got to face lower-ranked rivals in the first round. These were the resulting fixtures after the first round.
Trinidad and Tobago vs French Guiana - July 6, 2021 at 16:30 ET
The Soca Warriors entered the preliminaries by finishing third in Group A3, and they were drawn against Montserrat. The red and black side claimed an emphatic 6-1 win over the Montserratian side, led by Kevin Molino and Reon Moore, who scored three of the Trinidadians' six goals.
Meanwhile, the French Guiana were paired up against Cuba, the third-placed team in the CONCACAF Nations League Group A3. Luckily for them, the Cuban team was not able to make the trip to the United States and forfeited the match with a 3-0 score. Hence, the French Guianese side will have a chance to qualify to their second CONCACAF Gold Cup in history.
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Haiti vs Bermuda - July 6, 2021 at 19:00 ET
The Haitian side finished third in group D of League A, which helped them become the highest-ranked team in the preliminaries. Their first round match concluded in a 6-1 win over Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, which came easier than expected after two penalties were handed to the blue and red side.
On the other side of the pitch, the team from Bermuda entered the preliminaries after finishing second in Group 3 of League B. Once in the qualifiers, the team managed to oust Barbados after thrashing them 8-1 thanks to a hat-trick by Nahki Wells. The Bermudian side will want to enter their second CONCACAF Gold Cup in a row after being eliminated in the Group Stage of the 2019 edition.
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Guatemala vs Guadeloupe - July 6, 2021 at 21:30 ET
The Guatelaman team ended the CONCACAF Nations League as winners in Group D of League C, which resulted in them being ranked just behind Haiti in the CONCACAF Gold Cup preliminaries. Eventually, the team led by Amarini Villatoro would go on to beat Guyana 4-0 to make it to this stage of the competition. Los Chapines will try to return to a CONCACAF Gold Cup for the first time in six years, following the ban handed to them by CONCACAF and FIFA due to allegations of corruption against the Guatemalan Football Federation.
Guadeloupe were also able to win their CONCACAF Nations League Group, resulting in a higher seeding for the preliminary round. Once there, the Gwada Boys would claim a two-nil win over Bahamas to secure their spot in the second round. Guadeloupe is trying to return to the CONCACAF Gold Cup after a ten-year absence and a fourth-place finish in the 2007 edition.
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According to the draw, the winners of the Haiti vs Bermuda clash have a spot reserved in Group B, while the winning side of the Guatemala vs Guadeloupe clash will be drawn into Group C. Last, but not least, the team that wins the Trinidad and Tobago vs French Guiana will enter Group A, where teams such as Mexico, El Salvador and Curaçao await.
