Donovan suggests Mexico are favourites for the CONCACAF Gold Cup

United States legend Landon Donovan believes Mexico are the favourites for the CONCACAF title amid USMNT’s recent failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. United States are currently the defending champions of the Gold Cup, but Donovan does not regard them as the kings of the competition with the recent downtrend in results.

Speaking to ESPN FC, Donovan said that the United States are not the best country in the region, considering the failure to reach the World Cup finals last year. He added that Mexico have the edge at the moment and it is up to the USMNT to prove doubters wrong at the forthcoming continent showpiece, he said: "At the moment the United States is not [the best country in the region] because we didn't qualify for the World Cup in Russia. At the moment it could be Mexico but we'll see in a few months who is the king of CONCACAF and hopefully the United States again are the kings of CONCACAF."

“The Unites States have been pitted against Panama, Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago in their group“ and on paper, they are favourites to progress to the quarter-final stage. However, they can’t be overconfident over the same, considering they were beaten by Panama to “the final World Cup“ berth while Trinidad & Tobago were primarily responsible for causing the shock outcome.

Meanwhile, Mexico have retained a number of senior players from the previous World Cup despite failing to progress beyond the round of 16 stage once more. The El Tri have recently impressed with back-to-back triumphs over Chile and Paraguay under new boss Gerardo Martino, and they are certain to enter the summer tournament as the front-runners with United States and Costa Rica among the potential challengers for the continental crown. Mexico are the most successful side in the Gold Cup with seven titles.