For the USWNT, Gold Cup is about ideas and execution as much as results – Equalizer Soccer

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The primary version of the Concacaf W Gold Cup is an enigma. Is it really the confederation’s championship occasion? There was already a “Concacaf W Championship” performed in 2022, which was actually simply qualifying for the 2023 World Cup and 2024 Olympics.

Compounding the confusion is that 4 of the 12 groups within the occasion are from exterior the confederation; Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Paraguay are visitor groups from South America. The 2 confederations have collaborated in comparable methods steadily on the lads’s aspect, so it isn’t unprecedented or all that uncommon. It simply leaves lingering questions: What does this event imply? How ought to we consider it? Let’s zoom in on the solutions from a United States women’s national team perspective.

First, a trophy is on the road to gained, a typical chorus of gamers and coaches. Even on this precarious state of transition, the U.S. is closely favored to win all three video games within the group in opposition to Argentina, Mexico and both Guyana or Dominican Republic (who will compete in a play-in recreation). A potential quarterfinal might or might not convey a extra vital problem, relying on how groups fare within the group stage. (Credit score to Concacaf for a singular reseeding format for the quarterfinals.)