Haiti vs Qatar prediction: NORTH & CENTRAL AMERICA: Gold Cup betting tips on match 2023-06-25 22:00.
In a time of year where football viewing is slim, the CONCACAF Gold Cup once again comes to the rescue as the nations of North and Central America battle for supremacy. Competition regulars Haiti find themselves in Group B for this year’s edition of the biennial tournament, while many may be surprised to see a member of the Asian Football Confederation in Qatar as their opposition, as the 2022 World Cup hosts were invited to participate in the 2021 and 2023 editions as part of a collaboration.
Haiti are competing in the tournament for the seventh time in the last nine editions, and the 1973 Gold Cup champions could be out to ruffle some feathers across the venues of Canada and the USA. Jean-Jacques Pierre’s men recently went undefeated in their CONCACAF Nations League campaign (W5, D1), while scoring 22 goals in the process demonstrates that Group B’s lowest FIFA ranked nation (87th) shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Ranked 26 places above the Grenadiers sit opponents Qatar, who clash with Haiti for the first time since November 2010. Avenging that 1-0 loss here will help fast track Qatar to promotion from the group stages, as they look to better their performance in the 2021 edition where they were eliminated by eventual champions the USA at the semi-final stage.
The Maroons have stayed active since becoming the first host nation to lose all of their three World Cup group stage games, but things haven’t gotten much better for manager Carlos Queiroz and co. They’ve played six full matches since the conclusion of the World Cup, winning only twice in that time (D1, L3), whilst their preparation was mired in controversy when a friendly in Austria against New Zealand was abandoned at half-time following claims of racial abuse against Qatari player Yusuf Abdurisag.
Players to watch: Haiti will hope good luck charm Frantzdy Pierrot is up for the task since they’ve only lost once when he’s found the net in national colours (W7, D2). Meanwhile, Qatar will look to unleash 2021 Gold Cup top scorer Almoez Ali, who scored three of his four goals in that tournament between the 46th and 60th minutes.
Hot stat: Haiti have won their opening Gold Cup match only once in their last 11 tournaments (D3, L7).