The CONCACAF Gold Cup LIVE on Kwesé TV

Catch all the CONCACAF Gold Cup (7-26 July) action LIVE on Kwesé Sports

The CONCACAF Gold Cup is played every two years and determines the football champion of North America, Central America and the Caribbean.

This throws up some interesting matchups wherein the world’s most powerful country takes on a beach island, as in USA vs Martinique (KS1, KFS, 13 July at 3:00 CAT). While the US has a population of 320 million, and GDP (gross domestic product) of $18 trillion, Martinique is home to 385,000 souls, with GDP of $10 billion. To be fair, it’s not even a country, but “an insular region of France located in the Lesser Antilles in the eastern Caribbean Sea”, as Wikipedia puts it.

And yet come 13 July (Africa time) the Martinique eleven will be lacing up their boots dreaming of the upset of the century. And, given the ultimate unpredictability of sport, they have a shot at the impossible. Let’s not forget that Leicester City won the 2015/16 Premiership.

But, Martinique isn’t even the smallest nation at the CONCACAF Gold Cup. That honour goes to a territory you’ve probably never heard of – Curaçao.  Curaçao is a Dutch Caribbean region off the coast of Venezuela, and home to only 160,000 people. Should Curaçao beat Mexico (population 127 million) in their group encounter (KS1, KFS, 17 July at 2:30 CAT) it would go down as one of the great upsets of the game, right up there with the Faroe Islands beating Austria in 1990.

This is the beauty of football. The simplicity of the game allows for lesser nations to compete on a level playing field…even if that playing field is a patch of dirt. You don’t need the resources and structures of other sports to field a competitive eleven. Also, football is a defensive game of few scoring opportunities, which again increases the chances of an upset. Lesser teams can sit back and defend while they wait for a chance to counter-attack.

French Guiana is another Caribbean minnow who will play at this year’s CONCACAF Gold Cup. Like Martinique, it belongs to France…but not totally. FIFA doesn’t recognise French Guiana as a football country, but CONCACAF does. This loophole has given Florent Malouda a second shot at an international career. The ex-French and Chelsea star, who is 37, will represent his region of birth at the tournament. With a population of only 250,000 they need all the help they can get.

French Guiana will be looking for Malouda to spark a highly unlikely upset against high-flying Costa Rica (KS1, 15 July at 1:30 CAT). Costa Rica is not a rich country and has a population of only 5 million. Yet they are showing what can be done with limited resources. The FIFA Rankings have them at 19, four places above the US.

Which all goes to show that you can’t judge a football team by the size of the country. The CONCACAF Gold Cup is sure to throw out the odd upset. But more importantly than the results on the pitch is the celebration of nationhood, the recognition of smaller regions, and the message that all nations can be equal…at least for 90 minutes on a soccer pitch.