In major tournaments such as the World Cup and European Championships, all of the teams taking part need to name their squad of 24 players before the tournament begins. Once that list is in, the squad is set in stone, and no additions can be made after the fact, no matter how many injuries a team might pick up during the tournament. Things are a little more lax in the 2017 Gold Cup, as teams can make changes to their squad once the group stage is over.
For some teams, this is the perfect opportunity to bring in replacements for injured players, while for others, it is the chance to strengthen the squad in hopes of going on to win the tournament. Coach Bruce Arena has shown that he wants to win this tournament, as he has brought in 6 veteran players to the US squad, including Tim Howard, Clint Dempsey, and Captain Michael Bradley.
Find the latest 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup betting odds here.
It had been an experimental squad that the US used during the group stage, but their less than impressive performance almost demanded that Arena do something ahead of their quart-final clash against El Salvador. Even without these additions, this would still be a game that the US would be expected to win. El Salvador booked their passage to this round via one of the 3rd place group finishes, and they look as though they may end up being nothing more than a potential warm-up game for the new additions to the US squad. There have not been a ton of surprises in this tournament so far, but you can bet that El Salvador will be going all out to deliver the first big shock on Wednesday night.2017 Gold Cup Expert Picks and Predictions for USA vs El Salvador
When: Wednesday, July 19 at 9 PM EST Where: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia TV: FS1 Live Stream: FOX Sports GO FIFA Odds: USA -1½ (-130)Why bet on USA
You can say that the experiment of using the fringe players in the opening round worked, since the USA did land on the top of their group, but it can also be argued that they made things a lot more difficult than they needed to be. The US got their Gold Cup started with a lackluster 1-1 tie versus Panama in a game that they might have lost had it not been for Brad Guzan in goal. They followed that up with a sloppy 3-2 win over Martinique in a game where they surrendered a 2-goal lead before a Jordan Morris winner secured the 3 points. The USA group stage ended with a much more convincing 3-0 win over Nicaragua, which was enough to secure top spot in the group. The addition of the veteran players should add some much-needed punch to this side, and should also help the US become the favorites to win the 2017 Gold Cup.USA CONCACAF Gold Cup Record
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA |
| El Salvador 1963 | Did Not Enter | |||||||
| Guatemala 1965 | Did Not Enter | |||||||
| Honduras 1967 | Did Not Enter | |||||||
| Costa Rica 1969 | Did Not Qualify | |||||||
| Trinidad and Tobago 1971 | Did Not Enter | |||||||
| Haiti 1973 | Did Not Qualify | |||||||
| Mexico 1977 | Did Not Qualify | |||||||
| Honduras 1981 | Did Not Qualify | |||||||
| 1985 | Group Stage | 6th | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| 1989 | Runners-up | 2nd | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 3 |
| United States 1991 | Champions | 1st | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 3 |
| Mexico United States 1993 | Runners-up | 2nd | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 |
| United States 1996 | Third Place | 3rd | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 3 |
| United States 1998 | Runners-up | 2nd | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2 |
| United States 2000 | Quarter-Finals | 5th | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
| United States 2002 | Champions | 1st | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 1 |
| Mexico United States 2003 | Third Place | 3rd | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| United States 2005 | Champions | 1st | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 3 |
| United States 2007 | Champions | 1st | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 3 |
| United States 2009 | Runners-up | 2nd | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 8 |
| United States 2011 | Runners-up | 2nd | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 6 |
| United States 2013 | Champions | 1st | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 4 |
| Canada United States 2015 | Fourth Place | 4th | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 4 |
| United States 2017 | Group Stage | TBD | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 3 |
| Total | 14/14 | 5 titles | 82 | 59 | 13 | 10 | 141 | 57 |
Why bet on El Salvador
El Salvador were in a tough spot in a Group C that also featured Mexico and Jamaica. Getting the 3rd place spot was probably a solid case of “mission accomplished” for this team, as that was probably their realistic goal heading into this tournament. El Salvador were soundly beaten 3-1 in their opening game against Mexico, but gave themselves a real lifeline with a 2-0 win over Curacao in their final game. There was still work to do to secure a quarter-final spot, which they did by tying 1-1 with Jamaica in the final group game. While El Salvador have made it to this stage of the tournament 3 times prior to this year, they have never gone further. The last time they reached the quarter-finals was in 2013, and they ended up going down 5-1 versus the US in that one.El Salvador CONCACAF Gold Cup Record
| Year | Round | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA |
| El Salvador 1963 | Runner-Up | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 17 | 7 |
| Guatemala 1965 | Fourth Place | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 9 |
| Honduras 1967 | Did not enter | ||||||
| Costa Rica 1969 | Banned | ||||||
| Trinidad and Tobago 1971 | Withdrew | ||||||
| Haiti 1973 | Did not qualify | ||||||
| Mexico 1977 | Third Place | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 9 |
| Honduras 1981 | Runner-Up | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 1985 | Fourth Place | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 2 |
| 1989 | Fifth Place | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 8 |
| United States 1991 | Did not qualify | ||||||
| United States Mexico 1993 | Did not qualify | ||||||
| United States 1996 | Round 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| United States 1998 | Round 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| United States 2000 | Did not qualify | ||||||
| United States 2002 | Quarter-finals | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| United States Mexico 2003 | Quarter-finals | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| United States 2005 | Did not qualify | ||||||
| United States 2007 | Round 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| United States 2009 | Round 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| United States 2011 | Quarter-finals | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 8 |
| United States 2013 | Quarter-finals | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| United States Canada 2015 | Group Stage | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| United States 2017 | TBD | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Total | 16/23 | 63 | 19 | 17 | 27 | 71 | 89 |
