CONCACAF Gold Cup: Ambitious Qatar Face up to Red Hot Haiti

Haiti vs Qatar

Two of the world’s lesser known football nations come face to face on Sunday, when Haiti make their ninth appearance at the CONCACAF Gold Cup facing 2021 semi-finalists Qatar at the NRG Stadium in Houston.

But these are two upwardly mobile teams, Haiti have won their last five games while Qatar are still basking in the glory of their hosting of the 2022 World Cup. But they both have a way to climb up the FIFA World Rankings, Qatar currently sitting in 61^st place, while Haiti are chasing in 87^th.  

Qatar come into the game on the back of a 2-1 victory away to Jamaica while Haiti have had three months off since their last outing a 3-1 win at home to Bermuda.

Talking Points

Is this Haiti’s Golden Era?

While they have had a period off, prior to the 2023 Gold Cup, les Grenadiers have been in superb form in 2023, flying through their group in the Nations League, unbeaten in their six games and scoring for fun. And this could be the best Haiti team since they appeared at the World Cup in 1974, with all but four of their squad playing in the European leagues.

Qatar will be the first nation they have met from outside CONCACAF since 2021 when Haiti beat Jordan 2-0 in Bahrain and they will be confident of picking up another positive result in Texas on Sunday.

Player to watch: Duckens Nazon. With 26 goals from 50 games the CSKA Sofia striker is Haiti’s biggest goal threat. The France born 29 year old scored 18 in 32 games in the Bulgarian League last term and comes into this match bang in form.  

Can Queiroz take Qatar to another level?  

The Maroons are being watched throughout the world and the appointment of experienced boss Carlos Queiroz in February, shows the Qatari football authorities mean business. 

The Middle East s becoming a powerhouse in sport; and in football the states of Saudi, UAE and Qatar are all huge players. The ownership of Newcastle United, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain and the successful hosting of the 2022 World Cup has put these countries on the global footy map. More recently, the Saudi professional league has been attracting stars of the calibre of Karim Benzema, while Qatari based Sheik Jassim is hopeful of taking over Manchester United in the coming weeks.

Qatar’s first World Cup campaign ended in a swift exit, but they have made it to the knockout phases of the last Gold Cup and Arab Cup and are steadily climbing up the FIFA rankings. Queiroz has previously managed Portugal and Colombia and now he is tasked with taking the Maroons to the next level, starting with a win over Haiti. Two years ago Qatar scored 12 goals in their first four Gold Cup matches and went deep into the competition, so Queiroz has something to live up to.

His team is drawn entirely from the Qatari Stars League, and the Haiti vs Qatar betting odds back a win for Queiroz…but it won’t be easy.

Player to watch: Almoez Ali. The Al Duhail striker starred at the World Cup and is ready to make some Haiti vs Qatar highlights on Sunday. He has scored 42 goals in 88 games for Qatar and, at 26 years of age, there is much more to come.   

History

Qatar attended their first World Cup, as hosts, in 2022, while they reached the semi-final of their first CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2021, and the Maroons are three times winners of the Arabian Gulf Cup.

Haiti are former CONCACAF Gold Cup champions in 1973, which was one year before their one and only appearance at the World Cup, where, like Qatar, they went out at the group stage. 

The only meeting between these two nations, 12 years ago, ended in a 1-0 victory for les Grenadiers.    

Haiti are unbeaten in the last six and are on a five match winning streak while Qatar have had mixed fortunes over their last six outings, winning two, drawing one and losing three.

Betting Tip

Qatar are favourites to win this game at SBOTOP odds of 2.01 with Haiti at 3.01 and the draw at 3.11; and I think it will be a hard fought game, but with plenty of goalmouth action.  

While three of Qatar’s last five games have yielded three goals, every one of Haiti’s matches have seen four or more and both sides have a hitman in form.  

 

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