Permutations

We're doing the early shift again at the stadium, and its downright beautiful outside ahead of this afternoon's game between Cuba and Panama. Now there are a lot of things that can happen in this group, so let's go through a few of the scenarios:

What we know so far -
Honduras is in. Panama is out. With six points, Honduras has qualified for the semifinals regardless of today's results. Conversely, Panama has already been eliminated from the tournament and are only playing for pride today.

Cuba must win. In order to have a chance at qualifying for the next round, Cuba needs a victory. With one point from their first two games, the Cubans need all three today to have any chance of moving on. A tie or a loss gets them nowhere, and means that the U.S. will have already qualified for the semifinals when they kickoff at 7 ET.

If Cuba wins and the U.S. loses... then things get a bit tricky. Both teams would be on four points, and it would come down to goal differential. As it stands right now, the U.S. has a +1 GD, while Cuba's is -2. So they'll need to make up some goals if they want to get through.

Of Course...this whole discussion will be pointless if the U.S. wins or draws!