USA vs Jamaica Prediction: Will the Stars and Stripes start with a win?

The reigning CONCACAF Gold Cup winners, the USA will open the 2023 tournament with a match against Jamaica. Will the Stars and Stripes start with a win? It should be noted that the Americans have beaten Jamaica in four of their previous five matches, but the most recent meeting between the two sides ended in a 1:1 draw.

The Americans, along with Mexico and Canada, are the hosts of the 2026 World Cup. Preparations are underway, and the 2023 Gold Cup is part of it. However, already now, the US team is a strong contender. Both the Qatar World Cup, where the Stars and Stripes qualified out of the group and the CONCACAF Nations League, which ended a week before the start of the Gold Cup, have confirmed this. The USA beat Mexico 3:0 in the semi-finals. They left Canada no chance in the final, also winning with a score of 2:0. With five goals against the top teams in the confederation and no goals conceded, the USA ended up with a significant advantage, confirming their place as the clear favorite for the Gold Cup.

Jamaica also ranks among the top teams in the CONCACAF zone. Jamaica's best achievements in the Gold Cup have been in the finals - in 2015 and 2017. But the team has also performed decently in the next two tournaments - a fourth-place finish in 2019 and a quarter-final loss to the USA in 2021.

Jamaica missed out on the League of Nations playoffs, ending up in second place in the group with Mexico and Suriname, so they prepared for the start of the Gold Cup through a series of friendlies. Jamaica lost both games, falling to Qatar and Jordan by the same score of 1:2.

The Americans won the Nations League very confidently on the eve of the home tournament, and in general, they were not particularly surprised by that. The US team is one of the most progressive in the world, as it showed in particular at the last World Cup. The Stars and Stripes advanced to the playoffs from a difficult group with England, Wales, and Iran in Qatar. The first round of the Gold Cup, of which they are the reigning holders, is also certain to remain with the Americans. The Jamaican team is unlucky to face the hosts and the main favorites of the tournament in the first round.