Mexico and Costa Rica will put their perfect CONCACAF Gold Cup records on the line when they face off at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Sunday morning.

Of the four groups in the competition, Group A is the only one already decided, with both of these teams guaranteed spots in the quarter-finals next weekend.

Match preview

While there were plenty of surprises around the United States’ squad selection for this competition stemming from the omission of several key players, no such criticism could be directed at Mexico.

El Tri arrived at the biennial tournament with the majority of their top players in tow, and consequently, anything less than securing a 10th Gold Cup crown - which would place them three titles ahead of the USMNT in the all-time standings - would be considered a disappointment for Mexican fans.

So far, everything has gone to plan for Javier Aguirre’s side, who booked their place in the knockout stages in midweek when they secured a fairly straightforward 2-0 victory over Suriname.

Defender Cesar Montes, who had scored just once in his previous 53 appearances for the national team prior to the Gold Cup, broke the deadlock with a header off a corner in the 57th minute, then followed it up with a second goal just six minutes later.

The Lokomotiv Moscow man also netted the opener in Mexico’s 3-2 victory over the Dominican Republic in their first match of the competition and now shares the scoring lead with Costa Rica’s Manfred Ugalde.

Meanwhile, once firmly regarded as CONCACAF’s third-best team behind the US and Mexico, Costa Rica is now in a rebuilding phase, having brought a youthful squad to this tournament, with 15 of their 26 players born in 2000 or later.

Los Ticos kicked off the tournament in one of the games of the competition to date, pulling off a thrilling 4-3 victory over Suriname, sealed by a 103rd-minute penalty by Ugalde to secure all three points.

Miguel Herrera's side’s second match was equally challenging, as they had to rally from a goal down to claim a 2-1 win over the Dominican Republic, with Josimar Alcocer slotting home the winner in the final five minutes of the match.

Mexico leads Group A on goal difference, and they are strongly fancied to maintain top spot, as they are unbeaten in their last 11 encounters against this opponent dating back to October 2013 (W5 D6 L0).

Team News

Mexico were dealt a few significant injury blows leading up to this competition, with Hirving Lozano and Henry Martin both sustaining knocks during training, while Jesus Angulo pulled out a couple of weeks earlier.

Given the group situation, it would not come as a huge surprise if Aguirre opted to rest some of his players here, which could see the likes of Santiago Gimenez and Angel Sepulveda handed starting roles.

Josimar Alcocer was a surprising omission from Costa Rica’s starting 11 against Suriname, but the Westerlo forward made an almost instant impact, netting inside of 10 minutes after coming off the bench in that match before slotting home the winner against the Dominican Republic.

Juan Pablo Vargas started in central defence for Los Ticos last time out, but Fernan Faerron is expected to return to partner Francisco Calvo and Jeyland Mitchell in front of Keylor Navas this weekend.

Mexico possible starting lineup:

Malagon; Reyes, Montes, Vasquez, Gallardo; Alvarado, Alvarez, Ruiz, Vega; Gimenez, Jimenez

Costa Rica possible starting lineup:

Navas; Mitchell, Faerron, Calvo; C Mora, Aguilera, Galo, Alcocer, J Mora; Martinez, Ugalde