2023 UEFA Nations League Finals / CONCACAF Gold Cup

GOLDEN GUIDE

UEFA NATiONS LEAGUE FiNAL FOUR:

Hosts the Netherlands vs Croatia and Spain vs Italy are the semi-fnal ties that will open the 2023 UEFA Nations League fnals.

Croatia, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands will contest the 2022/23 UEFA Nations League fnals after topping their League A groups. Spain (2021) and the Netherlands (2019) were runners-up in the frst two editions while Italy fnished third two years ago. For Croatia, the tournament in June will be their frst fnals appearance.

INDEX

History Groups & Teams Fixture

4

6 16

GOLDEN GUIDE MANAGING DIRECTOR

Daniel J. Morano

EDITOR & SALES

Michel Fournier

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Claudia Verónica

Villalobos Avalos

COVER Guia Hispana Design Team

UEFA Nations League Meet the winners

2019: PORTUGAL

Hosts Portugal won the inaugural UEFA Nations League finals, with the Netherlands second and England third.

The inaugural UEFA Nations League Finals was a knockout tournament that took place from 5-9 June, involving the four group winners of the top-ranked League A: Portugal (hosts), England, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Player of the Tournament: Bernardo Silva (Portugal)

2021: FRANCE

France have clinched the 2020/21 UEFA Nations League title after beating Spain in the final.

France have succeeded Portugal as UEFA Nations League champions after beating Spain 2-1 in the final, with Italy taking third place following a 2-1 victory against Belgium.

Player of the Tournament: Sergio Busquets (Spain)

CROATIA

Not many gave Croatia much hope when they were thumped 3-0 at home by Austria in their opening Group A1 game. The outlook wasn't much improved by a 1-1 draw with France in Split, but ZLATKO DALIĆ showed their mettle with two victo ries against Denmark sandwiching a fine 1-0 win in France. They then held their nerve in Austria to prevail 3-1 thanks to a pair of vital goals in the last 21 minutes. "In the end, the win was deserved," said captain Modrić. "I am very happy we are in the top four."

Tactics

Dalić is most comfortable using a 4-3-3 formation, occasionally switching to 4-2-3-1 – albeit with little difference between the two.

The coach rotated a lot during the league phase, though he stuck with a midfield trio of Modrić, Mateo Kovačić and Marcelo Brozović, plus Ivan Perišić on the left. Elsewhere, Dalić experimented as he looked for solutions up front, on the right and in defence.

One to watch: Joško Gvardiol

03/06/2022 Croatia 0-3 Austria

06/06/2022 Croatia 1-1 France

10/06/2022 Denmark 0-1 Croatia

13/06/2022 France 0-1 Croatia

22/09/2022 Croatia 2-1 Denmark

25/09/2022 Austria 1-3 Croatia

Key player:

The only side to remain unbeaten through League A, the Netherlands started as they meant to go on by thumping neighbors Belgium 4-1 away. It was not plain sailing after that: the Orange came from 2-0 down to draw with Poland, while both wins against Wales came courtesy of added-time goals. Yet the Dutch always found a way and sealed their passage with a 1-0 defeat of Belgium in Amsterdam.

Tactics

A back three, wingbacks who are a vital element of the attack, a midfield diamond with the point in front, two strikers who are fast, mobile and almost impossi ble to pin down, and a team full of players who can comfortably interchange positions were all features of Louis van Gaal's outfit. Will RONALD KOEMAN who took the reins following the World Cup, stick to that formula?

One to watch: Jurrien Timber

ITALY

Paired with EURO 2020 final opponents England and Germany in a tough section, ROBERTO MANCINI side restored some pride following their shock loss to North Macedonia in the World Cup play-offs. A 5-2 defeat in Germany on Matchday 4 was a blow, but the Azzurri came good with back-to-back wins in September, Giacomo Raspadori scoring in both.

Tactics

In qualifying, Mancini mostly used the 4-3-3 formation which led the Azzurri to triumph at EURO 2020 but switched to a 3-5-2 for the final two games of the group stage, picking up wins and clean sheets against England and Hungary.

04/06/2022 Italy 1-1 Germany

07/06/2022 Italy 2-1 Hungary

11/06/2022 England 0-0 Italy

14/06/2022 Germany 5-2 Italy

23/09/2022 Italy 1-0 England

26/09/2022 Hungary 0-2 Italy

KEY PLAYER:

Marco Verratti

The Azzurri won their last two games in the group without the injured Marco Verratti but, when fit, the Paris midfielder gives Mancini's team crucial intensity, energy and technique.

Giacomo Raspadori ONE TO WATCH:

Raspadori scored in the September wins against England and Hungary. The Napoli forward will be 23 when the finals come around and could be the solution to Italy's attacking problems with his never-say-die attitude, creativity and lethal finishing.

SQUADS

Information correct as of 26 March 2023, after the match against Malta

GOALKEEPERS:

Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Wladimiro Falcone.

Alex Meret.

Ivan Provedel.

DEFENDERS:

Francesco Acerbi.

Leonardo Bonucci.

Alessandro Buongiorno.

Matteo Darmian.

Giovanni Di Lorenzo.

Federico Dimarco.

Alessio Romagnoli.

Giorgio Scalvini.

Leonardo Spinazzola.

Rafael Toloi.

MiDFiELDERS:

Nicolo Barella.

Bryan Cristante.

Davide Frattesi.

Jorginho.

Lorenzo Pellegrini.

Matteo Pessina.

Sandro Tonali.

Marco Verratti.

ATTACKERS:

Domenico Berardi.

Federico Chiesa.

Wilfried Gnonto.

Vincenzo Grifo.

Simone Pafundi.

Matteo Politano.

Mateo Retegui.

Gianluca Scamacca.

SPAIN

It was an up-and-down qualifying campaign for Spain as they sealed their spot in a second consecutive finals. The 2021 runners-up struggled to build up momentum in the early games, with a couple of draws followed by a narrow win in Switzerland – who then condemned La Roja to a first home defeat since 2018. However, they showed character and resilience to secure a priceless win away to Portugal, Álvaro Morata hitting the winner in the dying minutes to seal a semi-final berth.

Tactics

This is a bit of an unknown as LUIS DE LA FUENTE only replaced Luis Enrique after Spain's early World Cup exit in December. His approach is perhaps more pragmatic than his predecessor's "everyone defends, everyone attacks" philosophy, playing to individual strengths. His 2019 U21 EURO winning team played a 4-2-3-1, his 2020 Olympics side was more of a 4-3-3 while it was a 4-1-4-1 in his only previous match in charge of the seniors.

02/06/2022 Spain 1-1 Portugal

05/06/2022 Czechia 2-2 Spain

09/06/2022 Switzerland 0-1 Spain

12/06/2022 Spain 2-0 Czechia

24/09/2022 Spain 1-2 Switzerland

27/09/2022 Portugal 0-1 Spain

Pedro "Pedri" González López KEY PLAYER:

Despite just being 20, Pedri – the Young Player of the Tournament at UEFA EURO 2020 – has become a mainstay for club and country. His influence is growing and he is often the key to Spain's attacking threat, having added goalscoring to his game of late.

Ansu Fati ONE TO WATCH:

Luis Enrique had enormous faith in Ansu Fati and his successor will be desperate to see him fulfilling his potential after a string of injuries in recent seasons checked his progress. Expect the forward to become a regular once again for both Barcelona and Spain by the time these finals come round.

SQUADS

Caps and goals updated as of 28 March 2023, after the match against Scotland

GOALKEEPERS:

Kepa.

Remiro.

Sergio Herrera.

DEFENDERS:

Carvajal.

Pedro Porro.

Laporte.

Iñigo Martínez.

Nacho.

David García.

Balde.

Gayà.

MiDFiELDERS:

Rodri.

Zubimendi. Gavi. Pedri. Fabian. Mikel Merino. Ceballos.

ATTACKERS:

Morata.

Dani Olmo. Nico WIlliams. Yeremy Pino. Oyarzabal.

Iago Aspas.

Joselu. Borja Iglesias.

The CONCACAF Gold Cup (Copa Oro de la CONCACAF) is the confederation’s premier event for national teams, crowning a champion every two years. Initially involving eight teams, the Gold Cup has developed into a competition of 16 nations, which qualify via the Concacaf Nations League and the Gold Cup Prelims.

The Gold Cup has been contested on 16 previous occasions. Mexico owns a tournament-record eight titles, followed by the United States with seven and Canada with one.

The U.S. captured the inaugural championship in 1991. That year, the entire tournament took place in two Southern California venues - the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and the Rose Bowl. As evidence of its stunning growth, in 2019, the Gold Cup was played in the Caribbean and Central America for the very frst time, with Jamaica and Costa Rica each hosting group stage matches.

The 2019 Gold Cup also marked the frst time in which 16 nations participated in the tournament.

The Gold Cup continues to grow and for the frst time ever, a single-elimination Preliminary Round was part of the 2021 edition in lieu of the Gold Cup playofs, with 12 teams vying for three spots in the 2021 Gold Cup group stage.

INDEX

Prelims Groups & Teams

20 21

United States | 1 - 0 | Mexico

Miles Robinson 117’

2021

Meet the winners

Best Player: Hector Herrera, Mexico

2019

2017

2015

2013

2011

Mexico | 1 - 0 | United States

Jonathan dos Santos 73’

Best Player: Raul Jimenez, Mexico

United State | 2 – 1 | Jamaica

Jozy Altidore 45’; Jordan Morris 88’ / Je-Vaughn Watson 50’

Best Player: Michael Bradley, United States

Jamaica | 1 – 3 | Mexico

Darren Mattocks 79’ / Andres Guardado 31’; Jesus Corona 46’; Oribe Peralta 61’

Best Player: Andres Guardado, Mexico

USA | 1 - 0 | Panama (0-0)

Brek Shea 69’

Best Player: Landon Donovan, USA

USA | 2 – 4 | Mexico (2-1)

Michael Bradley 8’; Landon Donovan 23’ / Pablo Barrera 29’, 50’; Andres Guardado 36’; Giovani Dos Santos 76’

Best Player: Javier Hernandez, Mexico

USA | 0 - 5 | Mexico (0-0)

2009

Gerardo Torrado 56’; Giovani Dos Santos 62’; Carlos Vela 67’; Jose Antonio Castro 79’; Guillermo Franco 90’

Best Player: Giovani Dos Santos, Mexico

USA | 2 – 1 | Mexico (0-1)

Landon Donovan 62’ pen; Benny Feilhaber 72’ / Andres Guardado 44’

2007

2005

2003

2002

Best Player: Julian De Guzman, Canada

USA | 0 – 0 | Panama, 3:1 pens (0-0)

Best Player: Luis Tejada, Panama

Brazil | 0 - 1 | Mexico aet (0-0)

Daniel Osorno 97’

Best Player: Jesus Arellano, Mexico

USA | 2 - 0 | Costa Rica (1-0)

Josh Wolff 37’; Jeff Agoos 63’

Best Player: Brian McBride, USA

Canada | 2 - 0 | Colombia (1-0)

Jason DeVos 45’; Carlo Corrazin 68’ pen

Best Player: Craig Forrest, Canada 2000

USA | 0 - 1 | Mexico (0-1)

Luis Hernandez 43’

Best Player: Kasey Keller, USA 1998

Mexico | 2 - 0 | Brazil (0-0)

Luis Garcia 54’; Cuauhtemoc Blanco 75’

Best Player: Raul Rodrigo Lara, Mexico 1996

Mexico | 4 – 0 | USA (2-0)

Best Player: Ramon Ramirez, Mexico 1993

Ignacio Ambriz 12’; own-goal 31’ (Desmond Armstrong); Luis Roberto Alves 71’; Guillermo Cantu 80’

USA | 0 - 0 | Honduras, 4:3 pens (0-0)

Best Player: Tony Meola, USA 1991

GROUPA

The co-host and defending champions U.S. was paired with Jamaica, Nicaragua and St. Kitts & Nevis. The USMNT is bidding to become the first consecutive Gold Cup winner since Mexico won in 2009 and 2011.

UNiTED STATES OF AMERiCA

B.J. Callaghan COACH:

On May 30, 2023, Callaghan succeeded Anthony Hudson as interim head coach for the 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

COACH:

Heimir

Hallgrímsson

Is an Icelandic former football player who hroughout his playing career, he also served as the dentist and even after taking sole reign over the Icelandic national team after Euro 2016.

PLAYER:

Goalkeeper Philadelphia

Union

Matt Turner

PLAYER: Goalkeeper Arsenal

Andre Blake

REPUBLiC OF NiCARAGUA

COACH:

Marco Antonio Figueroa

Commonly known as "El Fantasma”, Figueroa played as a striker and spent the majority of his playing career at Mexico, after retiring in 1998, at the Chilean powerhouse Universidad Católica.

PLAYER:

Juan Barrera

Attacking Midfielder

Real Esteli

COACH:

Austin Huggins

In January 2022, Huggins was appointed manager of Saint Kitts and Nevis.

Julani

Archibald

PLAYER: Goalkeeper

Birkirkara

SAiNT KiTTS & NEViS

GROUP B

Mexico, which won the tournament in 2019 and has a record eight Gold Cup titles to the Americans seven, was joined by Haiti, Honduras and guest nation Qatar in Group B & its perhaps the strongest of the four groups.

MEXICO

Jaime Lozano

COACH: Jaime Lozano will take over as Mexico's head coach after spending the past three seasons in charge of the country's U-23 team.

PLAYER:

Raúl Jiménez

Forward

Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.

Envio de Dinero y Productos de Belleza

Forward Fayenoord

GOALKEEPERS:

Carlos Acevedo.

Ángel Malagón.

Guillermo Ochoa.

Antonio Rodríguez.

SQUAD

DEFENDERS:

Kevin Álvarez.

Julian Araujo. Néstor Araujo.

Omar Campos.

Gerardo Arteaga.

Victor Guzmán. César Montes.

Israel Reyes.

Luis Romo.

Jorge Sánchez.

Gilberto Sepúlveda.

Johan Vásquez.

MiDFiELDERS:

Edson Álvarez.

Roberto Alvarado.

Alan Cervantes.

Luis Chávez.

Sebastian Córdova.

Jesús Gallardo.

Diego Lainez.

Orbelin Pineda.

Carlos Rodríguez.

FORWARDS:

Uriel Antuna.

Roberto de la Rosa.

Santiago Giménez. Ozziel Herrera.

Raúl Jiménez. Henry Martín. Érick Sánchez.

Alexis Vega.

COACH:

Diego Martín Vázquez

Just as he did as a player, Vásquez began with F.C. Motagua his career as a manager in Honduras in 2013.

HONDURAS

GOALKEEPERS:

Luis ‘Buba’ López. Endrick Menjívar. Harold Fonseca.

DEFENDERS: Franklin Flores.

Marcelo Santos.

MiDFiELDERS: Bryan Acosta. Alexander López. Joseph Rosales. Jorge Álvarez. José Pinto. Cristhian Altamirano. Alexy Vega

FORWARDS: Jerry Bengtson. Rubilio Castillo. Jorge Benguché. Edwin Solano. Alberth Elis.

Rubilio Castillo

PLAYER: Forward

Nantong Zhiyun

As a player, Pierre played for historic Uruguayan side Peñarol as a regular starter for the club. He was voted as the best defender of the Uruguayan championship during 2004–05.

REPUBLiC OF HAiTi

STATE OF QATAR

COACH:

Carlos Queiroz

Queiroz was appointed manager of the Qatar national team in February 2023, succeeding Félix Sánchez, who led them at the 2022 FIFA World Cup which they hosted.

Hassan Al-Haydos

PLAYER: Forward Al-Sadd

Johny Placide

PLAYER: Goalkeeper

S.C. Bastia

GROUP C

Costa Rica is in Group C with El Salvador, Panama and a foe TBD. Panama recently stunned Costa Rica in CONCACAF Nations League play, beating the Ticos to advance to the semifinals.

COSTA RiCA

SQUAD:

GOALKEEPERS:

Keylor Navas.

Kevin Chamorro.

Alexandre Lezcano. Jussef Delgado.

DEFENDERS:

Kendall Waston. Óscar Duarte.

Francisco Calvo.

Juan Pablo Vargas.

Carlos Martínez.

Keysher Fuller. Suhander Zúñiga. Jefry Valverde.

Keylor Navas

PLAYER: Goalkeeper Paris Saint-Germain

MiDFiELDERS:

Celso Borges. Youstin Salas.

Roan Wilson.

Christopher Núñez. Wilmer Azofeifa.

Josimar Alcocer.

Carlos Mora.

Warren Madrigal. Aarón Suárez.

FORWARDS:

Joel Campbell. Anthony Contreras. Diego Campos.

Suárez is best known for leading Ecuador to the round of 16 at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Luis Fernando Suárez

COACH:

EL SALVADOR

Hugo Pérez

Born in El Salvador, he gained his U.S. citizenship as a youth and earned 73 caps, scoring sixteen goals, with the USMNT between 1984 and 1994. He was a member of the U.S. team at both the 1984 Summer Olympics and the 1994 World Cup.

MEXICOCristian Gil

ONE TO WATCH: Forward

C.D. FAS

GOALKEEPERS:

Danilo Joya del Águila.

Óscar Pleitez.

Sergio Sibrián.

Mario Gonzalez.

DEFENDERS:

Diego Chévez.

Terezo Benítez.

Roberto Dominguez.

Romulo Villalobos.

Ronald Rodriguez. Julio Sibrián.

Elvis Claros.

Jaime Ortiz.

SQUAD

MiDFiELDERS:

Narciso Orellana.

Brayan Landaverde.

Melvin Cartagena.

Marcelo Díaz.

Mauricio Cerritos.

Leonardo Menjívar.

FORWARDS:

Rafael Tejada. Steven Vasquez. Kevin Reyes.

Juan Carlos Argueta. Christin Gil.

PANAMA

COACH:

Thomas Christiansen

Christiansen was named Panama’s manager on July 23, 2020. He replaced Américo Gallego who was released amid a restructuring of the Panamanian Football Federation.

PLAYER:

Harold Cummings

MARTINIQUE

COACH:

Marc Collat

A Martinican-French professional football former player who is the head coach of Martinique.

Daniel Hérelle

GROUP D

Co-host Canada is staging Gold Cup games for second time ever and first since 2015. Les Rouges will play Cuba, Guatemala and another side TBD in Group D this summer.

CANADA

John Herdman

COACH: Led Canada to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, its first World Cup in 36 years, becoming the first manager to have successfully led both the national women's and men's teams of a nation to qualify for a World Cup.

MEXICOStephen Eustáquio

Samuel Adekugbe

Defender Galatasaray SK

GOALKEEPERS:

Milan Borjan.

Tom McGill.

Dayne St. Clair.

DEFENDERS: Samuel Adekugbe. Moïse Bombito.

Zachary Brault-Guillard. Scott Kennedy. Richie Laryea. Zac McGraw.

Kamal Miller.

Steven Vitória. Dominick Zator.

SQUAD

MiDFiELDERS:

Ali Ahmed.

Stephen Eustáquio. Victor Loturi. Jonathan Osorio. David Wotherspoon.

FORWARDS: Charles-Andreas Brym. Lucas Cavallini. Junior Hoilett. Liam Millar. Jacen Russell-Rowe. Jacob Shaffelburg.

PLAYER:

José Carlos Pinto

GUATEMALA

SQUAD:

MiDFiELDERS:

Pedro Altán.

Jorge Aparicio. César Archila.

Rudy Barrientos.

Juan Cardona.

Marco Dominguez.

Jonathan Franco.

Alejandro Galindo. César Calderón.

Esteban García.

Bryan Lemus.

Carlos Mejía.

Arquimidez Ordóñez.

DEFENDERS:

Óscar Castellanos. José Ardón. Javier González. Gerardo Gordillo. Moisés Hernández. Uzias Hernández. Aaron Herrera. Cristian Jiménez. Antonio López. Javier López. José Morales.

Yonathan Morán. Marlon Peleg.

GOALKEEPERS:

Nicholas Hagen. Ricardo Jeréz.

Braulio Linares. Kevin Moscoso. Kenderson Navarro. Fredy Pérez.

Luis Fernando Tena

Famed for being interim coach of the Mexican team for a single World Cup qualifier match against the United States on September 10, 2013.

Aslinn Rodas.

José Rosales.

José Ruiz.

Oscar Santis.

Rodrigo Saravia. Marlon Sequen.

José Pinto. Yonatan Pozuelos. Stheven Robles. Kevin Ruiz.

Nicolás Samayoa.

FORWARDS:

Robin Betancourth. Dewinder Bradley. William Cardoza. Marvin Ceballos. Lynner García

Andres Lezcano. Darwin Lom. José Martínez. Luis Martínez. Oscar Mejía. Rubio Mendez. Nathaniel Méndez-Laing.

José Ochoa. Andersson Ortiz. José Vargas.

CUBA

COACH:

Pablo Elier Sánchez

From 2013 to 2018, Sánchez was manager of Cuban club Pinar del Río. In July 2019, Sánchez was appointed manager of Cuba after previously being in a physical trainer capacity for the country.

Arichel Hernández

PLAYER: Midfielder Mixco

Andreaw Gravillon

PLAYER: Defender Torino