This year’s CONCACAF Gold Cup has gone under the radar this summer. With the Women’s World Cup in France and the Copa America in Brazil receiving a majority of the attention, the 15th edition of the tournament being hosted in the USA, Costa Rica and Jamaica has struggled to fill the column inches of past years.

We are down to the quarterfinals after the procession of the group stages in which nearly everything went as expected. Perhaps the only shock came in Group B, where the “Ticos” of Costa Rica had to settle for second spot after losing to Haiti in their final group game. This means that Haiti have the favorable assignment of Canada in the last eight, whereas Costa Rica have to face Mexico in Houston – a Mexico outfit that have scored 13 goals in their three wins so far in this season’s competition.

The other two quarterfinals see Jamaica play the 2018 World Cup minnows Panama, as well as the USA playing the tiny Caribbean Island of Curacao – a side that scraped though Group C having scored only two goals, winning once against Honduras. An interesting comparison between the two sides is their gulf in population: USA’s 327 million vs. Curacao’s 160,000. It’s truly David vs. Goliath when they meet in Philadelphia.

Sitting in opposite sides of the draw, the likelihood of a Mexico vs. USA final is creeping ever so closer. The last time these two powerhouses met for a Gold Cup final was in 2011 where a 4-2 thriller saw “El Tri” scoop their 6th crown at the time. These two sides have claimed 13 titles between them in 14 editions, with Canada breaking the trend in 2000 reaching their first final, beating Colombia in the final.

The USA negating the threat of Jamaica in the semifinals is arguably the biggest hurdle in order to land a Mexico-USA final. Jamaica have looked strong in recent years – in comparison to the rest of the Gold Cup competitors – but with just one win in their underwhelming group, the “Reggae Boyz” won’t be entering the knockout stages with the most confidence.

With 10 goals between them, the combined forces of Mexico’s Uriel Antuna and Raul Jimenez as well as Gyasi Zardes for the USA will be looking to canter past Canada’s Lucas Cavallini and Jonathan David in the race for the competition’s top goalscorer prize. Upon the assumption that Mexico and the USA have three games left each, either of the three are worth a punt – Zardes will be looking to add to his tally in Sunday’s tie against Curacao.

Mexico @ 1.42 (Marathon Bet) and USA @ 1.62 (Marathon Bet) are both priced short at reaching the final, but it’s hard to envisage either team stumbling en route to a Chicago showdown. The Mexicans have started the strongest but will have to play well to get past a plucky Costa Rican side. To hedge against this outcome, backing Costa Rica to win the tournament @ 15.00 (Marathon Bet) is worth a small stake.