Golden Cup: United States vs Haiti, America wants to qualify for the top spot in the group, Haiti fights back and forth

At AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Haiti will compete with Team USA on Sunday, and Haiti needs a victory to retain hope of advancing to the quarterfinals of the Golden Cup. The seven-time Golden Cup champions, the United States, has secured a quarter-finals with a 1-0 victory over Saudi Arabia on the second match day, while Haiti has drawn 1-1 with Trinidad and Tobago.

Game Preview: Team USA recovered in form, Haiti strived to break through

The United States showed resilience in Thursday's game. Although the ball control rate was as high as 68%, it only made a decisive breakthrough with 22 minutes left in the game. It was a huge relief for head coach Mauricio Pochettino, whose team suffered four straight losses before the Golden Cup but had back-to-back wins in the tournament and did not lose a single goal.

They only need one point to win the top spot in the Golden Cup for the seventh consecutive time this weekend, and if they scored three points, this will be the third time in their last four events to end the group stage with a full victory. Since losing to Trinidad and Tobago on November 1-2, 2023, the U.S. men's football team has won a streak in four official games against Caribbean teams, with a total score of 13-3. In the Golden Cup, the United States remained unbeaten in 21 games after scoring its first goal, a record that can be traced back to the 2017 group stage. Team USA remained unbeaten for nine consecutive times in the confrontation with Haiti, winning 1-0 in both of the last two.

Although Haiti held on with one more man in the half-time match against Trinidad and Tobago, and successfully continued hopes of advancing to the quarterfinals through this weekend. Sebastian Minie's side needs a win to have a chance to advance to the quarterfinals of the tournament for the first time since 2019, while they also need Saudi Arabia to lose points against Trinidad and Tobago and ensure that the latter does not outperform them in goal difference.

Haiti currently has lost three games in all competitions, but they have won two of the last three Golden Cups in the last round of the group stage. They have won ten straight wins in multiple goals and have not lost with multiple goals since October 2023 (losing 2-3 to Jamaica). They have not beaten North American teams since the 2019 Golden Cup quarterfinals, when they reversed Canada 3-2. Their last victory over the United States dates back to November 1973 (1-0), and their last victory over the United States on the United States was 1-0 in 1969.

Team dynamics and key players

In the second match day of the victory over Saudi Arabia, the United States lacked Haji Wright, who was injured due to Achilles tendon problems, and Pochettino continued to use the 11 players on the first match day. Meanwhile, Brenden Allenson made his 50th appearance with the national team on Thursday, while Taylor Adams, Damien Towns and Johnny Cardozo made their debut in the Gold Cup. Chris Richards scored the only goal of the United States on the second game day, the second national goal of the Crystal Palace defender, and Matt Fries completed his second clean sheet in the event with just one save.

For this decisive game, Haiti will lack Jean-Kevin Duverne, who was sent off with a direct red card at the end of the first half on Thursday. Ruben Providence was the only new face of the 11 starting players in that game, replacing Christopher Artis. Ricardo Ade is expected to reach a milestone of 50 appearances for Haiti on Sunday, while Johnny Placid completed his 75th appearance for the national team on Thursday. Franzdi Pierro helped the team lead Trinidad and Tobago earlier this week, and although they had a chance to win late in the game, Mondi Plugne missed a penalty in the 86th minute.

Predict: Team USA beat Haiti

Considering that Team USA has advanced to the quarterfinals, we expect many main players to get a rest, but even their B team is enough to deal with a Haiti team that is not as strong as Team USA.

Result: Team USA 2-0 Haiti