Gold Cup Dark Horse Could Be Forced To Withdraw From Tournament Due To Covid Issues

A Covid-19 outbreak on the eve of the 2021 Gold Cup could see one of the tournament’s dark horses make an early exit. In a since deleted social media post, Curaçao claimed that its squad is experiencing an outbreak of the virus. If the Curacao Covid situation worsens then there will be no Gold Cup for Curaçao.

Curacao dealing with a Covid outbreak in its squad ahead of its Gold Cup opener tomorrow against El Salavdor.

The Caribbean country may have to drop out of the tournament if 50% of today's tests come back positive, per this press release. pic.twitter.com/BGO1pzlugR

— Jon Arnold (@ArnoldcommaJon) July 9, 2021

*El Salvador
*50% or more

If needed, Concacaf could replace Curacao ("If any PMA withdraws or is excluded from The Competition, the Concacaf Council shall decide whether to replace or not the Member Association in question with another Member Association.") but...late to do so.

— Jon Arnold (@ArnoldcommaJon) July 9, 2021

Curaçao is scheduled to play the opening game of the Gold Cup against El Salvador on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET. If the tiny Caribbean nation is forced to withdraw, Concacaf will need to find a replacement quickly. The final day for the first round of group stage games ends on Tuesday.

French Guiana, Guatemala and Bermuda were the three teams to just miss out on the Gold Cup after being knocked out in the final round of qualifying. One of the those three could potentially take Curaçao’s spot.

It will certainly be a shame if Curaçao does have to withdraw from the Gold Cup. Curaçao’s national team has slowly become one of the new threats from the Caribbean. In the previous Gold Cup, the nation with a population similar to Midland, Texas, advanced out of its group and narrowly lost to the U.S. 1-0 in the quarterfinals.

Curaçao nearly qualified for the final round of Concacaf World Cup qualifying but fell short against Panama 2-1. The Gold Cup was meant to be Curaçao’s shot a redemption but that could be in jeopardy.

The other team’s in Curaçao’s Gold Cup group are Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago and El Salvador.