It's Costa Rica's time to break Mexico, USA dominance at the Gold Cup

When it comes to the CONCACAF Gold Cup, Mexico and the USA have always had a stranglehold on the competition.

Since its formation in 1991, Mexico has won the tournament seven times, while the U.S. has claimed five titles. Canada has provided the only disruption, winning it in 2000 by beating South American guest Colombia 2-0 in Los Angeles, but aside from that anomaly, predicting the Gold Cup winner is usually a straightforward routine.

Perhaps not so coincidentally, the Gold Cup has always been played in either the U.S. or Mexico (save for two group games in Canada in 2015), so home-field advantage–and Mexico has plenty of it on U.S. soil–almost always plays a role for the victors.

This year, the duopoly could meet its match.

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Costa Rica enters this year's competition with an extremely strong lineup, filled with experience and young talent, and despite the fact that Los Ticos are missing their biggest star (Real Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas) and one of their most reliable midfielders (Deportivo la Coruña's Celso Borges) they boast a squad that is here to make a statement.

Given the fact that Mexico and the U.S. enter the Gold Cup with less-proven, second-choice talent (and Mexico won't have its coach), they should probably not be making more headlines than the 2014 World Cup quarterfinalists. History dictates that despite what's on paper, the trophy will head to a familiar destination. Costa Rica can change the story, though.

The most intriguing names and faces at the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup

Dom Dwyer - USA

Dwyer, an English-American dual-national, scored on his debut for the USA in a friendly vs. Ghana, and a breakout performance in the Gold Cup could put him firmly on Bruce Arena's World Cup radar (provided the USA qualifies, of course)

Alphonso Davies - Canada

At 16, Davies is the most intriguing Canadian prospect in some time. He's drawing eyes overseas, opening eyes in MLS for Vancouver and could be the Gold Cup's breakout star.

Mark Geiger - Referee

Referees always play a huge part in Gold Cups. Always. It wouldn't be CONCACAF without a handful of "CONCACAF'd" moments, and Geiger was at the center of it all in 2015. The spotlight will be firmly on the accomplished American official.

Florent Malouda - French Guiana

CONCACAF has confirmed to SI.com that Malouda is ineligible to play, due to representing France for years in official competitions and a rule change that prevents players from playing for non-FIFA nations in official competitions. Nevertheless, Malouda may play anyway, meaning French Guiana will have to forfeit its matches. Stay tuned.

Rodolfo Zelaya - El Salvador

Zelaya was once banned in a match-fixing scandal that rocked El Salvador, but he's one of the region's most talented attacking players and could cause problems for the opposition.

Joel Campbell, Bryan Ruiz - Costa Rica

No team boasts a dynamic duo quite like Costa Rica's veteran tandem. If Los Ticos are to become the first Central American team to win the competition, Campbell and Ruiz will be a big reason why.

Leandro Bacuna - Curacao

The Aston Villa midfielder is one of the more accomplished players in the competition at the club level, and if Curacao is to have a shot at pulling any surprises, it's on Bacuna to deliver.

Andre Blake - Jamaica

The Philadelphia Union goalkeeper has already shown he belongs on the club and international level, but without Wes Morgan marshaling the back line in front of him, he could be called on in a big way in hopes of leading Jamaica back to the final after its surprise 2015 showing.

Kevin Parsemain - Martinique

Martinique's all-time leading scorer will be tasked with leading the minnow in a group with the USA, Panama and Nicaragua.

Orbelin Pineda - Mexico

Pineda's Chivas de Guadalajara strike partner Alan Pulido is out of the competition with a broken arm, meaning it's on Pineda to lead the charge for El Tri's second-choice attack.

Juan Carlos Osorio - Mexico

Well, Osorio is suspended for the competition thanks to his outburst in the Confederations Cup third-place game vs. Portugal. All eyes will be on his replacement (likely Luis Pompilio Páez) and his staff – and how the reaction is in Mexico to his absence. There's never a dull moment on El Tri's hot seat.

"We're going to go step by step because the goal is to win the cup," said Costa Rican captain Bryan Ruiz earlier this week. "I want to play in it. I feel like it's a great chance for us to fight to be champions, and I want to be a part of that. That's why I did everything possible to be able to take part."

Ruiz, the second most popular Costa Rican player in his home nation, is joined by other attacking threats such as Joel Campbell (the journeyman who remains in the books for Arsenal, having spent last season with Ruiz at Portugal's Sporting CP), San Jose Earthquakes' Marco Ureña (10 goals in 40 international appearances) and NYCFC's Rodney Wallace. Ariel Rodriguez may play for the relatively unfamiliar Thai club Bangkok Glass, but he is an extremely exciting player, having scored 26 goals in 40 matches last season.

At the back is where this Central American nation really prospers. Defenders such as Johnny Acosta, Michael Umaña and Giancarlo Gonzalez were all in Brazil three years ago, and it will be this experience that can help Costa Rica achieve its first Gold Cup title. Manager Oscar Ramirez's team has only conceded four goals in Hexagonal round of World Cup qualifiers, with only Mexico faring better.

The biggest challenge to Costa Rica's chances, however, may be the head coach himself. Ramirez was first involved as a coach with the national team in 2006 were he signed on as assistant, but then left two years later to manage in the domestic league. He was voted Costa Rican manager of the year in 2013 after a successful run with Alajuelense and in 2015, he rejoined the national side and became Paolo Wanchope's assistant in August. His journey changed course after the Wanchope–a national hero during his playing days with Manchester City–was fired due to a fight with a security guard in Panama a week later, Ramirez was given the head gig.

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Ramirez is only really known in Costa Rica, having never played or coached a club outside of his home. As a player he went to the World Cup in 1990, where Costa Rica–in a group with Brazil, Sweden and Scotland–finished runner-up in the group stage and ending up losing to Czechoslovakia 4-1 in the round of 16.

"We have a very good chance of winning the Gold Cup because we have a very good team," Wallace told CONCACAF's official website. "The team knows how we play. We know our system, and we have the confidence and ability to win this tournament."

Costa Rica is a talented, well-built unit that will most definitely get out of the group stage, where it will face Honduras, Canada and French Guiana. As long as Ramirez's proven combination of defensive discipline and experience comes together, there is plenty of reason to believe Los Ticos can finally end the Mexican-American domination in this competition.

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