Mexico vs Honduras prediction: NORTH & CENTRAL AMERICA: Gold Cup betting tips on match 2023-06-25 00:00.
While co-hosts USA may be pre-tournament favourites, no nation has enjoyed as much success in the CONCACAF Gold Cup down the years as eight-time winners Mexico. While they fell short of a ninth crown by losing in the 2021 final to the USA in extra time, the Tricolor have enjoyed huge amounts of success in this tournament having reached the final ten times in 16 editions, while they’ve made it as far as the semi-finals a whopping 13 times.
Rather unsurprisingly then, Mexico are red-hot favourites to top Group B – also comprising Haiti, Honduras and Qatar – and cruise into the knockout stages. Preparations have been thrown into turmoil this week though as manager Diego Cocca was dismissed after just four months in charge, with the emphatic 3-0 semi-final loss in the CONCACAF Nations League against the USA proving the nail in the coffin. Former national under-23 manager Jaime Lozano will now lead Mexico and he comes with some pedigree after guiding his country to a bronze medal at the 2020 Olympics.
Honduras will be keen to capitalise on any unrest in the Mexican camp as they look to steal a march on their Group B rivals in the race for a place in the quarter-finals. Los Catrachos are former finalists in their own right (1991), but have fallen on particularly hard times of late, having won just four of their last 27 internationals (D5, L18).
Mexico are certainly familiar foes, with this being their fifth H2H clash in a little more than two years. None of the prior four meetings went Honduras’ way though, as they failed to score a single goal in that sequence (D1, L3). They’ll hope for better fortunes here but Mexico are an opponent they’ve struggled against for some time, winning just one of the last 11 H2Hs (D3, L7), a run that included a 3-0 quarter-final loss at the 2021 Gold Cup.
Players to watch: Mexico will be looking for forward Santiago GimĂ©nez to replicate his stellar domestic form at the Gold Cup after he netted 23 times for Feyenoord in the 2022/23 campaign. Honduras hitman Jorge BenguchĂ© also enjoyed a successful season at club level, scoring 15 times for Olimpia – 13 of his 16 strikes for club and country this term have arrived after half-time.
Hot stat: Mexico haven’t lost a Gold Cup match in regulation time since July 2017 (1-0 v Jamaica).