The preliminary round towards the Gold Cup 2025 It is just a few days after starting and in total there are 14 Concacaf teams that will still fight to obtain a direct quota in the raffle that will be held on April 10, including the Guatemala national team.
The national bicolor was matched with Guyana, one of its rivals in the League A of the previous League of Nations of the Concacaf, in the repechage, so it must overcome the country located in the northern region of South America.
For many years Guatemala selection He was the protagonist in the Gold Cup, especially in his first editions where he was running twice and accumulated a title in 1967 (under the name of Concacaf Nations Championship).
However, since the tournament changed to its current format (1991), Guatemala has failed to transcend much in the championship, reaching His best performance in 1996 with a fourth place.
Why is Guatemala selection obliged to classify the Gold Cup 2025?
With the arrival of Luis Fernando Tena as a coach, Guatemala’s course seems to be corrected a bit, however, first must overcome Guyana In the preliminary round to determine yes it is the case or not.
Going to the Gold Cup is currently for the Guatemalan team an obligation, and that is due to three main reasons.
Opportunity to recover after performance in the League of Nations
Guatemala played in 2024 the group stage of the League A of the Concacaf Nations League. The national team had a regular performance at the end in third place, behind Costa Rica and Surinam.
It was in the last match of the group stage against Costa Rica that had the opportunity to qualify for the quarterfinals of the tournament, but ended up being win by a 3-0 scoreso arriving at the Gold Cup is presented as the opportunity for the bicolor to wash the face after that result.
Level matches in a key year for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers
This 2025 is not only played by the Gold Cup, but also the second and third round of the Concacaf Qualifiers for the World Cup next year.
To classify the Gold Cup, Guatemala will arrive at the tournament after playing the confrontations against the Dominican and Jamaica Republic of the second round, so the fogueo would allow him to reach the third stage of the qualifiers with the greatest competitive rubbing and before the highest category rivals, taking into account that the next phase of the qualifiers will be from September to November 2025.
Economic awards at stake
Reach a tournament of selections such as the Gold Cup not only represents an opportunity to play high -level matches or an exhibition against the eyes of the region, but also that also There is an economic factor at stake.
Obtain the classification to the 2025 Gold Cup group phase means An income of around US $ 250 thousand (some Q1.9 million) for the coffers of the National Federation.
This income would not only help to continue financing the work of Luis Fernando Tena, but would serve as a motivator for all those involved, as players and coaching staff, since they would also make creditors to a percentage of this
In addition, if the bicolor transcends beyond the group stage of the Gold Cup, the prize awarded by Concacaf will increase.