The U.S. Men's National Soccer Team is headed into the final day of group play in the 2011 Gold Cup. The American's take on the team from tiny island nation (pop. 400,000) Guadeloupe at 8:00 p.m. ET. Team USA is currently tied with three points each with Canada and Guadeloupe with Panama sitting on top with six points by virtue of their two wins.
In the 2011 Gold Cup, the top two teams in each group advance to the Round of 16 Knockout Phase but also the two best third-place teams out of the three groups will also advance. Ties are resolved based on multiple factors starting with goal differential. This sets up numerous scenarios heading into Tuesday's game.
Here's a list of all the scenarios. The bottom line though is that U.S. advances with a win and anything less than a win against Guadeloupe is unacceptable.
Scenarios via The MNT Blog - U.S. Soccer
IF PANAMA BEATS CANADA ...
- and the U.S. wins, the U.S. advances to face Jamaica.
- and the U.S. ties, the U.S. advances to face Jamaica.
- and the U.S. loses by one goal, the U.S. advances to face Jamaica.
- and the U.S. loses by two or three goals, the U.S. finishes in third place and is eliminated.
- and the U.S. loses by four or more goals, the U.S. finishes in fourth place and is eliminated.
IF PANAMA AND CANADA TIE ..
- and the U.S. wins, the U.S. advances to face Jamaica.
- and the U.S. ties, the U.S. advances to face Jamaica. (tiebreaker: head to head vs Canada)
- and the U.S. loses, the U.S. will finish in fourth place. (tiebreaker: head to head vs Guadeloupe)
IF CANADA BEATS PANAMA ...
- by one or two goals and the U.S. wins, the U.S. wins the group and faces Guatemala.
- 3-0 and the U.S. wins by one or more scoring at least 2, the U.S. will advance to face Guatemala.
- 3-0 and the U.S. wins 1-0, there will be a drawing of lots to determine first or second place.
- by three goals, scoring four or more, and the U.S. wins, the U.S. will advance to face Jamaica
- by four goals and the U.S. wins, the U.S. advances to face Jamaica
- and the U.S. ties, the U.S. will advance and face Mexico.
- and the U.S. loses, the U.S. will finish in fourth place and is eliminated.