Curacao vs Canada

Canada has a chance to secure a spot in the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarter-finals as the first Group B team with a win against Curacao on Saturday at Shell Energy Stadium.

The Canadian squad kicked off the tournament with a commanding 6-0 victory over Honduras, placing them at the top of Group B, two points ahead of La Pantera Azul, who played out a scoreless draw against El Salvador.

Curacao’s typically potent attack struggled in their opening match, failing to create significant scoring opportunities against El Salvador. Under coach Dick Advocaat, Curacao had scored nine goals in matches leading up to Tuesday but drew a blank for the second time in 2025.

Despite this, Curacao remains in strong form, with only one loss in their last nine matches across all competitions (a 2-0 defeat to Kazakhstan) and an unbeaten streak in eight straight games against CONCACAF opponents. They’ve also been defensively solid, conceding just one goal in their last three Gold Cup group stage matches and only two in their previous eight encounters with regional teams.

Curacao will look to replicate their 2019 success at Shell Energy Stadium, where they secured a 1-0 win over Honduras during that year’s Gold Cup. A single point on Saturday would mark a historic moment for La Familia Azul, who have lost every prior match against North American teams.

Canada, eager to prove themselves without head coach Jesse Marsch, delivered a statement with their dominant opening win—their largest margin of victory since a 7-0 rout of Aruba in June 2021. Marsch, serving a touchline ban for one more game, will leave assistant Mauro Biello in charge as Canada aims to extend their unbeaten run in normal time to five matches across all competitions.

The Canadians have lost just once in their last eight Gold Cup group stage games, a 1-0 defeat to the United States in July 2021. In their three competitive matches this month, Les Rouges have kept clean sheets in the first half and have won seven consecutive games across all competitions when leading at halftime.

Since their penalty shootout loss to Uruguay in the Copa America third-place match last summer, Canada has won all six matches in which they scored multiple goals. Saturday’s game will be the third meeting between Canada and Curacao, with Canada winning both previous encounters while conceding just one goal.