There are many ways to judge strength of groups for international tournaments -- history, records, quality of players. There's also FIFA rankings, and from that, we can get a sense of the strength of the four groups for the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup, which were unveiled on Wednesday.
Group C has the highest average FIFA ranking, with Honduras (No. 61), Jamaica (56), El Salvador (71), and Curacao (82) clocking in with a 67.5 average ranking, well above the other three groups.
Behind them is Group A, with a 90 average, from Mexico (18), Canada (78) Martinique (91 in ELO rankings, as they are not a FIFA member), and Cuba (174). Group D is right behind that, with a 91.5 average ranking, from the US national team (24), Panama (74), Trinidad & Tobago (93) and Guyana (175).
Group B has by far the lowest average ranking, at 110.5. Costa Rica (38) are the only team in the double digits, with Haiti (100), Nicaragua (129) and Bermuda (175) coming up behind them.
When it comes to former champs, only Group A has more than one country to win the Gold Cup -- done by Mexico (seven times, most recently 2015) and Canada (2000). The USMNT have won the Gold Cup six times, most recently in 2017.
