The Gold Cup kicked off last night and Copa America is in its third day of matches. The Gold Cup has had approximately zero surprises as Canada and Mexico cruised to victories over Martinique and Cuba, respectively. Copa America, meanwhile, has had a mild upset already with Colombia beating Argentina 2-0 on Saturday. Today’s matches in both competitions are split — two likely to be rather competitive, and two potential blowouts.

Copa America has Paraguay and Qatar facing off in the first match and Ecuador and Uruguay facing off in the second. Qatar is trying to get used to tough competition in the lead up to the 2022 World Cup, but likely will be blown out by Paraguay. In Match 2, two Sounders have the potential to face-off with Nicolas Lodeiro and Xavier Arreaga on opposing rosters. Arreaga didn’t play for Ecuador in their friendlies leading up and Lodeiro, while he did play, is expected to start for Uruguay.

Gold Cup action started with Canada blowing out Jordy Delem’s Martinique 4-0. Mexico then one-upped them by beating Cuba 7-0. In the two matches today, Haiti faces Bermuda and Costa Rica faces Nicaragua. I know... practically nothing about Haiti and Bermuda as teams other than Haiti held their own losing 2-1 to Chile in a warm-up friendly. Bermuda won their warm-up friendly against USMNT opponent, Guyana. Haiti is ranked 101st in the world and Bermuda is 174th. This game might be boring, or very end-to-end. Costa Rica is looking to make a finals run and Nicaragua lost 5-1 to Argentina in warm-ups as is ranked 129th.

I know FIFA rankings are not the best barometer, but until we’ve seen these teams play in the Gold Cup, I really have no other insight for you. Sorry folks.

What to Watch

• Paraguay is going to want to really push and find goals against Qatar, and with Argentina losing, the door is wide-open for Group B. In two of the three groups, the third place team is getting out and Group B was likely to be one of them with Qatar being the odd one out. Argentina’s loss to Colombia gives Paraguay a chance with a result against Argentina and good GD to be in second and avoid a likely date with Brazil or the winner of Group C. It’ll be interesting to see how many goals they score.
• Uruguay and Ecuador should be a very strong and competitive match. Look for Lodeiro and Arreaga to maybe get involved. Uruguay is favored and Ecuador struggled in their warm-up matches. Watch for Luis Suarez and his level of match fitness after being out for a while. If Suarez doesn’t start, who steps up?
• Unlike Copa America, in the Gold Cup only the top two teams in a group advance and Group B is wide open. Costa Rica is likely winning it, so who of Bermuda, Nicaragua, or Haiti can take advantage? If all lose to Costa Rica, it’ll be about GD and what they can do against each other. If Nicaragua can steal a result against Costa Rica, they’ll be favorites for the second spot. The winner of Haiti and Bermuda, if there is one, will be the favorite heading into matchday two. Which team is able to control their destiny?
• Costa Rica will want to start the tournament off the way Mexico and Canada did with a blowout, but will they accomplish that? Will they underestimate Nicaragua? Can they score multiple goals? Since the start of the 2017 Gold Cup, Costa Rica has only scored multiple goals four times, and only two of those were three goal games (French Guiana and Northern Ireland).

How to Watch

Paraguay v. Qatar

Group: B

Location: Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho (Maracanã), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Date and time: June 16, 2019, 12 PM PT

TV: Telemundo (Spanish)

Streaming: ESPN+ (affiliate link), Telemundo, FuboTV (affiliate link)

Uruguay v. Ecuador

Group: C

Location: Estádio Governador Magalhães Pinto (Mineirão), Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Date and time: June 16, 2019, 3 PM PT

TV: Telemundo (Spanish)

Streaming: ESPN+ (affiliate link), Telemundo, FuboTV (affiliate link)

Haiti v. Bermuda

Group: B

Location: Estadio Nacional Costa Rica, San Jose, Costa Rica

Date and time: June 16, 2019, 3 PM PT

TV: FS2 (English)

Streaming: Fox Sports Go, Univision, FuboTV(affiliate link)

Costa Rica v. Nicaragua

Group: B

Location: Estadio Nacional Costa Rica, San Jose, Costa Rica

Date and time: June 16, 2019, 5:30 PM PT

TV: FS1 (English), Univision (Spanish)

Streaming: Fox Sports Go, Univision, FuboTV (affiliate link)

Sounder at Heart has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though Sounder at Heart may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links.

This is your Sounder at Heart Copa America and Gold Cup thread (sorry we missed the first two days).