With a spot in the quarter-finals at stake, Costa Rica and Martinique will square off on matchday three at the Gold Cup from Red Bull Arena on Tuesday.

For Los Ticos, this is a must-win game as they only have one point thus far, drawing El Salvador 0-0 on Friday, while a victory for Les Matinino would be enough to take them into the knockout stage despite losing their previous encounter, 2-1 versus Panama.

Match preview

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A run of 12 straight trips to the knockout stage of the Gold Cup is in jeopardy for Costa Rica, who are winless heading into their final group fixture at this tournament for the first time since 2015.

Los Ticos had their chances against El Salvador but could not seize the big moments, scoring just a single goal after two games played.

The last time they failed to win a group stage encounter at this tournament was in 2015, though they still made it into the knockout stage on that occasion.

Anything but a win on Tuesday would not be enough to book their place in the quarter-finals this time around as the Costa Ricans are two points behind Martinique for a place in the next round, but seeing as they are tied with the Salvadorans in points, along with goals for and against, winning and scoring often could be the difference between the knockout round and their earliest exit at this competition since 1998.

Costa Rica have won their final group stage fixtures at the Gold Cup on two successive occasions, with a 1-0 win over Jamaica in 2021 being the first time that manager Luis Fernando Suarez had won his final group encounter in this competition as a coach, having lost the third group match twice previously while in charge of Honduras.

After going unbeaten in their final eight World Cup qualifying fixtures, including seven victories, Los Ticos have only emerged victorious in one of their six competitive matches since exiting the 2022 finals.

They have a 100% record versus Martinique, with their last triumph against Les Matinino coming at the Nations League in March, while they have beaten the Caribbean nation twice at the Gold Cup, outscoring them 5-1 in those two games.

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Martinique will enter their final group fixture at the Gold Cup with a shot at advancing, which is something we have not said about them at this point of the competition for a few years.

The last time they had such an opportunity was in 2019, and Les Matinino fought hard on that occasion but ultimately fell 3-2 versus Mexico and were eliminated.

In five of their six Gold Cup appearances, Martinique have gone into their final group fixture with a shot at advancing but have only done so once (2002).

Five of their last six goals conceded in all competitions have transpired in the second half, including all three at this tournament.

Since a 4-2 victory over Antigua and Barbuda in November 2018, Marc Collat's men have lost nine of their last 10 matches in which they had conceded multiple goals.

They have lost nine of their 10 group fixtures at the Gold Cup when conceding first, with their best result being a 2-2 draw versus Canada in 1993.

Team News

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Cristopher Nunez made his first start for the Costa Ricans at the Gold Cup on Friday, as did Aaron Suarez and Carlos Mora, while Pablo Arboine appeared for the first time in this year's competition.

In only his sixth appearance for Los Ticos, Kevin Chamorro made two stops to collect a clean sheet versus El Salvador, while Ricardo Pena is their only field player at this tournament who is still seeking his first international cap.

With one more goal, Joel Campbell would tie captain Celso Borges and ex-player Juan Ulloa for fifth all-time with Costa Rica as he currently sits at 26, with the soon-to-be striker at LD Alajuelense and Francisco Calvo netting in their 2-0 Nations League victory over Martinique, while Anthony Contreras scored his third for his country the second time they faced them at that competition, when Aaron Suarez put home his first internationally in that 2-1 win.

Jonathan Rivierez missed the previous Martinique encounter through suspension, with Jean-Claude Junior Michalet replacing him, while Theo De Percin picked up his first career international cap, starting in goal rather than Yannis Clementia, who was in between the sticks for their opening victory.

Yordan Thimon, Florian Lapis, Ghislain Arbaut, Thomas Esphestion, Enrick Reuperne, Jonathan Mexique and Andy Marny were all in the starting 11 at the Gold Cup for the first time on Friday.

Karl Fabien had the lone goal for Les Matinino on Friday, just his second on the international stage, while Florent Poulolo, Florian Lapis and Brighton Labeau were the only players who kept their place in the starting 11 from matchday one to two.

Costa Rica possible starting lineup:
Chamorro; Waston, Vargas, Calvo; Madrigal, Borges, Suarez, Nunez; Contreras, Campbell, Campos

Martinique possible starting lineup:
Clementia; Burner, Poulolo, Michalet, Lapis; Mandouki, Ephestion; Fortune, Herelle, Fabien; Labeau

We say: Costa Rica 1-0 Martinique

Los Ticos are not anywhere near as strong as we have seen in years past, but they seem to bring out their best when their backs are against the wall.

Les Matinino have managed to stay close in many of their recent outings, but they cannot seem to find an extra gear in these big games.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Joel Lefevre

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