Costa Rica simply can't seem to get out of its own way right now. Los Ticos have won just three of their 11 matches this year, and there really hasn't been one in the 11 where you would have thought going in they were overmatched. In fact, it's been quite the contrary. Outside of the team's last Copa Centroamericana fixture against Panama in Panama City and a World Cup qualifier at Estadio Azteca, Costa Rica has been favored in the rest of these matches. French Guiana presents the easiest challenge of the bunch on Friday night to wrap up the group stage.
Don't miss the Gold Cup action from Toyota Stadium at 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday, July 14, 2017. Catch every moment of the match live on FOX Sports 1.
Odds Analysis
The one thing the oddsmakers are going to surely note here is the fact that Costa Rica could have to pour it on French Guiana to win Group A. Granted, there isn't a ton of difference between finishing first in this group (thus playing the Group B runner-up in the quarterfinals and likely the United States in the semifinals) and finishing second (thus playing the Group C runner-up in the quarterfinals and likely Mexico in the semifinals). That said, Costa Rica was a heavy favorite to win this group at the beginning of the tournament, and finishing second best to Canada isn't going to sit well at home.
In order to top the Canucks, Costa Rica will either have to win by more goals than Canada beats Honduras or will have to win and have Canada not beat Honduras. With Canada and Honduras playing in the late match, Los Ticos won't have a choice but to assume the worst.
All of that parlayed with the fact that this match means nothing to a French Guiana side which effectively eliminated itself by starting an ineligible Florent Malouda on Tuesday night against Honduras is why Costa Rica is sure to be a huge favorite in this match, perhaps the biggest of the entire tournament to date.
How They Got Here
Costa Rica was able to get three points from its opening match against Honduras, and that's going to be its saving grace here. Los Ticos weren't good in that fixture and were very fortunate to get anything, let alone all three points. That said, the fact that they got those three points took a little bit of the pain off of the draw against Canada. The 1-1 result was awful considering the fact that the Canucks only had one shot on goal for the entire match that happened to get past Patrick Pemberton.
French Guiana is left without a point to show for its first 180 minutes here in the Gold Cup. The team at least showed a little bit of a pulse against Canada for a short spurt, plus it looked good for much of the match against Honduras. But it's hard to know how that match would have played out without Malouda in the fold on both sides, especially since Honduras knew that it had a 3-0 victory via forfeit in the bag the second the match kicked off.
Free Soccer Betting Pick
Costa Rica has done enough in terms of getting pure results to get into the knockout rounds, so this match could end up being a little bit of an experiment for Ticos' boss Oscar Ramirez. That said, there's enough of a difference between finishing first in this group and second to really want to push for victory.
As has been the case throughout these last couple matches for Los Ticos, we suspect they'll do just enough to get the job done, but we aren't going to want to be laying a huge number on the Asian Handicap.
Gold Cup Odds: Costa Rica 1, French Guiana 0
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook!
