2023 Gold Cup Recap
Another tournament in the books! Check out our final recap and the 10 best moments/stories from this Gold Cup!
Another tournament has come and gone and it was a special one! Congrats to Mexico on their 9th Gold Cup victory! It was a competition filled with spectacular goals, surprise nations, heroic performances, and players belting their national anthems as they left it all on the line for their countries. This was just another example of why international competitions showcase what is so great about this sport and why the Gold Cup is still so important for this region. Below you will find a review of the final along with the best moments and the award overview of the tournament.
Gold Cup Final Review
Mexico 1 - Panama 0
El Tri emerged victorious to grab the title they had been waiting for (their first trophy since 2019)! Panama, as expected, did not make it easy. From the start, this game was at a 10/10 intensity and both teams had early attacking chances. Mexico showed their quality and found open spaces throughout. Panama’s midfield and defense were able to absorb much of the pressure and Mosquera continued his good run of form in net (watch here). Just after the half hour mark, Henry Martin bagged what we thought was the first goal of the game and the crowd at SoFi stadium went wild! Only for the goal to be reversed by VAR…all square at the half.
Mexico were knocking at the door for the the next 40 minutes and it felt like something just wasn’t meant to go right for them. Further missed chances and a second yellow ejection on Panama that was later corrected started to make El Tri fans feel like it may not be their night to grab glory. Then, in the 85th minute, Santiago “El Bebote” Giménez entered the game for Martin. At the beginning of this tournament, I picked Giménez as my player to watch and my golden boot winner.
While the golden boot didn’t come to fruition, Giménez got something better. Off of a great defensive stop from Mexico, they played the ball up to him around half field, with a defender on his back and another closing in, he made a move and was off to the races. As he barreled towards goal with the ball at his feet, he took a creative shot with his left and was able to beat Mosquera in with just a few minutes left to play (watch here)!
As the final whistle blew, I had a few thoughts. First, could this goal from El Bebote finally cement his place as the starting 9 for Mexico and could it have earned Jaime Lozano the full time job? FIFA president Gianni Infantino seemed to think so as he wished Lozano luck at the 2026 World Cup (watch here). I also thought of how well Panama played throughout this tournament - I truly think they are building something special and it will be exciting to see where this team can go.
10 Best Moments and Stories
It’s hard to pick just 10 and these are totally subjective - let me know what I missed in the comments!
10) Luis Chavez’ free kick - this was one of the goals of the tournament. This goal had it all - the technical ability from Chavez and the moment…this was an announcement that El Tri were not going to roll over and give up their Concacaf reign easily.
9) St. Kitts & Nevis reaching first Gold Cup - they needed to survive not one but TWO penalty shootouts in the prelims (watch here) just to reach the Gold Cup. While their group stage games left a lot to be desired, this team gave 110% in each game. It was a great reminder of how important this competition is and I hope to see this team in the next edition
8) Guadeloupe’s impressive showing - it wasn’t their first Gold Cup, but Les Gwada Boys hadn’t won (or even tied) a game at the Gold Cup since 2009. This team was so impressive in their 3 games and played well enough to make it to the knockout round but lost to Guatemala in their deciding game - one of the best games from this tournament (highlights here).
7) Haiti’s stoppage time winner against Qatar - in their opener of this tournament, the Haitian team put on a spectacular performance for their country that was capped off by this late stoppage time goal to win (watch here). Between the improving men’s team, Violette AC’s CCL run, and the women’s team qualifying for the 2023 World Cup, there is a lot to be excited about!
6) USMNT shining moments - although this tournament was disappointing in the end for the US, there were plenty of highlights. Brandon Vazquez’ late equalizer versus Jamaica (below), Jesus Ferreira making history with back-to-back hat tricks (watch here), and Matt Turner’s heroics against Canada in quarterfinal PKs (watch here).
5) Ismael Diaz’ record-breaking hat-trick - Panama had many great moments in this tournament and this hat-trick in 9 minutes, fastest in Gold Cup history, was certainly one of them (watch here). I woudln’t be shocked to see Diaz get another shot at European football after his showing at this Gold Cup.
4) Alberth Elis’ equalizer to keep Honduras alive - As the final seconds of stoppage time ticked away, so did the hopes of Honduras to advance to the knockout stage…that was until La Panterita put his body on the line to score an equalizer. This effort further cemented his legacy for Los Catrachos!
3) Guatemala’s run to the quarterfinal - Los Chapines were one of the most exciting teams to follow in this Gold Cup. They were able to go from being eliminated to winning their group in just one game (watch here), they established themselves as competitors for the 2026 World Cup qualification spots, and their fans showed up in huge numbers further proving that Central America has some of the best fans in the world.
2) Panama’s defining win vs USMNT in semifinals - while they didn’t need this victory to prove that they belonged with the top teams in the region, it was an exclamation point! Panama was the most consistent team in this tournament and they outplayed the USMNT for 120 minutes before beating them in an epic penalty shootout - which included some trash talk that backfired from the US.
1) Santiago Giménez’ goal to win the 2023 Gold Cup - as referenced above, this was a great moment for El Tri and El Bebote! In his appearances this tournament, he lacked the killer instinct in and around the box we got used to seeing with him at Feyenoord. This goal propelled Mexico to the title and maybe jumpstarted his era as the definitive 9 for the national team!
Gold Cup Awards
Golden Ball (best player): Adalberto Carrasquilla - he was my player to watch for Panama this tournament and he was clearly the best and most important player on the field in every game he played. Good luck to the Houston Dynamo trying to keep him much longer. Check out one of his top moments here!
Golden Boot (most goals): Jesus Ferreira - it’s time to give Jesus Ferreira his flowers. Not only did he have back-to-back hat tricks, but he scored 7 goals in one tournament joining the likes of Clint Dempsey and Chicharito. You play the competition in front of you and Ferreira scored the goals.
Golden Glove (best goalie): Memo Ochoa - he only allowed 2 goals all tournament (3 clean sheets in knockout stage). He also claimed his 5th Gold Cup title (a record). At 38, Ochoa still has an argument that he is the best keeper in the region!
What’s Next?
The Concacaf fanatics out there won’t need to wait too long for more action. Obviously the 2023 Women’s World Cup starts in a few days and features 6 Concacaf nations! Outside of that, you can look forward to the following competitions:
2023-2024 Concacaf Nations League (Sep 2023 - Mar 2024) - serves as qualification to 2024 Copa America.
2023 U17 World Cup (Nov - Dec 2023) - features USA, Mexico, Canada, and Panama.
2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup (Feb -Mar 2024) - this will be the premier competition for the women’s game in Concacaf that will feature 4 guest teams form South America.
2024 Concacaf Champions Cup (TBD 2024) - this is the new expanded version of Concacaf Champions League. We will dive into more details on this later this year. It will feature 27 of the best club teams in the region who qualify via their leagues, Leagues Cup, Concacaf Caribbean Cup, or the Concacaf Central American Cup.
Thank you all for following this newsletter during the Gold Cup - I hope it was beneficial! The 2023 Women’s’ World Cup preview will be hitting your inbox later this week.