Guatemala Soccer Betting

Nickname(s): Los Chapines, La Azul y Blanco, La Bicolor, La Furia Azul

Head Coach: Ever Hugo Almeida (2010)

Gold Cup appearance(s): (9) 1991, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2011

Best finish: Fourth place (1996)

Guatemala returns to Gold Cup for a ninth time after failing to qualify in 2009. It qualified this time by beating Nicaragua 2-1 for fifth place at the Copa Centroamericana in January. In group play it lost to eventual finalists Honduras and Costa Rica by a combined score of 5-1. Prior to the Centroamericana, Guatemala won three of five friendlies dating back to last September, beating Guyana, Belize and El Salvador. Ever Hugo Almeida, who replaced Benjamin Monterroso in May 2010, is expected to have the services of Philadelphia Union forward and career scoring leader Carlos Ruiz, who after announcing his retirement from international play in 2009, has returned to “Los Chapines”.