Canada will hope to start their Gold Cup campaign on a winning note when they face Martinique in their opening match of Group B on Sunday at Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City.
The Canucks come into this competition full of confidence, having won their last six matches, while Les Matinino will be eager to get on the field and play, having not been in a competitive game since their CONCACAF Nations League tournament came to an end in November 2019.
Match preview
As they prepare to make their 12th consecutive appearance in this competition, there is a lot of optimism in the Canadian camp, with the hope being that they can make a deep run in this tournament and maybe even come out on top for the first time since 2000.
Amid a golden generation, manager John Herdman has to be pleased with how far his side have come lately, easing their way into the Hexagonal phase of World Cup qualifying for 2022 with successive victories over Haiti 3-0 and 1-0 over their past two matches.
This team have outscored their opponents 31-1 over their current six-game winning streak, which shows that this is a side with many attacking options, and a ton of depth that perhaps has never been seen before in the history of this team.
A number of players on this squad have previous Gold Cup experience, with many of them featuring in prominent roles for their clubs at the moment in Major League Soccer, the Premier League and Portugal.
This tournament will serve as a good test for the Canucks moving forward into the final phase of World Cup qualifying, where they will face seven strong and experienced CONCACAF nations, six of whom are currently seeded above them according to the FIFA World Rankings.
The Canadians have not lost against a team from the CONCACAF region since 2019, and even though they have been facing, for the most part, some inferior sides of late, their defence has been as solid as ever, allowing only four shots on target in their previous five matches, holding the Cayman Islands and Aruba both to zero shots on goal.
Heading into their third successive appearance at the Gold Cup, Martinique have shown that they belong in this tournament with some of the top teams in the region, but they have yet to prove that they can have a strong showing at a major event like this one.
On paper, Canada are a far superior side compared to the small Caribbean footballing nation. However, manager Mario Bocaly will remind his players of how well they have fared versus the Canucks in this competition, beating them in the group stage in 2013 and losing only once to them in normal time in their four Gold Cup meetings.
Even though it has been quite some time since they have played a competitive match, they did show a lot of resilience at the CONCACAF Nations League, losing only once in their five fixtures, against Honduras, who finished third in the competition.
At the 2019 Gold Cup they gave the eventual champions Mexico all they could handle, narrowly losing 3-2 in a game that could have seen them through to the last eight with a positive result.
The majority of their team play locally in the French island nation of Martinique, so they should understand each other quite well on the pitch.
They will be relying on the experience of players like Patrick Burner and Kevin Fortune, who play in France for Nimes and Auxerre, with Burner having some top-flight experience in this recent campaign.
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Team News
Canadian strike Cyle Larin was second in scoring this past season in the Turkish Super Lig with 19 goals, helping Besiktas win the title.
Larin is tied for fifth all-time in goals for Canada with 15, just one behind Vancouver Whitecaps striker Lucas Cavallini who has 16 goals in only 22 appearances.
The attacking depth of Canada will be tested at this competition as their top goalscorer and Golden Boot winner at the Gold Cup two years ago Jonathan David will not be taking part, having completed a long season with Lille, helping them capture the Ligue 1 title.
Alphonso Davies has been ruled out of the Canadian squad after the joint-top scorer at this tournament in 2017 suffered an ankle injury in training earlier this week.
Also absent for this tournament for Canada will be Scott Arfield, Milan Borjan and their second most capped player Atiba Hutchinson.
Martinique midfielder Stephane Abaul needs just one goal to move all alone into fifth place all-time for his country, currently even with former striker Steeve Gustan at nine.
Veteran goalkeeper Loic Chauvet has started the last 11 games for his country, dating back to October 2018, including the opening match of this competition two years ago versus Canada, when he faced 12 shots, conceding four times.
Midfielder Daniel Herelle will be playing in his third successive tournament for Martinique, leading the team with 77 caps, 15 more than his teammate, defender Sebastien Cretinoir.
Canada possible starting lineup:
Crepeau; Henry, Vitoria, Kennedy; Johnston, Piette, Osorio, Kaye, Fraser; Buchanan, Pasher
Martinique possible starting lineup:
Chauvet; Camille, Dondon, Cretinoir, Vitulin; Herelle, Isaac; Jougon, Abaul, Fortune; Riviere
We say: Canada 3-0 Martinique
Canada have one of the more potent attacking sides out there, with players who have excelled for both club and country, and they have proven that they can handle pressure situations, losing only two of their last 13 competitive fixtures.
Martinique have not played a competitive match in a year and a half, and while they have only lost one of their last four matches, they are going up against a Canadian team that have a variety of quality players in every position.
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