“Chapines” are excited, “Cuscatlecos” suffer. The Guatemalan team defeated El Salvador 0-1 at home and regained mathematical options to fight from Group “A” in the Concacaf qualifiers for a place in the 2026 World Cup.
The Guatemalans have 5 points at the end of the fourth day, in a table that Suriname and Panama lead with 6 units. While the Salvadorans lie in the basement with 3 points and have mortgaged their qualification options.
Those led by Mexican coach Luis Tena added with this victory three consecutive away games without knowing defeat, with two draws and one win, while “La Selecta” led by Colombian coach Hernán Darío Gómez, lost all three games at home.
The incisive forward Óscar Santis signaled Guatemala’s victory with a shot from the edge of the area when less than 40 seconds of extra time had passed.
The offensive play began on the left side from where Antonio López stretched a pass to the opposite side for Santis who controlled the ball and immediately took a right cross that hit goalkeeper Mario González’s cabin.
From this blow, the locals were unable to recover in the rest of the match at the Cuscatlán stadium, which witnessed how the footballers fought with clenched teeth and a lot of nerves.
Coach “Bolillo” Gómez opted for the youth of striker Noel Rivera to try to equalize, but the Guatemalan defenders prevailed through physical pressure.
The “La Selecta” coach also sent midfielders Rafael Tejada and Enrico Dueñas to the field, but they failed to open cracks in the opposing defense.
In turn, the veteran coach Tena ordered the lines in the “Chapines” to be delayed and the game was closer and without connections for the Salvadorans.
Guatemala, which has never attended a soccer World Cup, will play at home the last two dates of the Concacaf qualifying round, to be played in the month of November against the leaders Panama and Suriname, while El Salvador has a very difficult time because it must play its two November games away from home against the surprising Suriname and against the dangerous Panama.
This is how they aligned
– El Salvador (0): Mario González; Julio Sibrán, Ronald Gómez, Adan Climaco, Jeferson Valladares; Mauricio Cerritos (Styven Vasquez, m.83), Joshua Pérez (Enrico Dueñas, m.70), Herberth Diáz, Jairo Henriquez (Noel Rivera, m.59); Nathan Ordaz (Rafael Tejada, m.70) and Brayan Gil.
– Selector: Hernán Darío Gómez (Colombian).
– Guatemala: Nicholas Hagen; Nicolás Samayoa, Jose Pinto, Aaron Herrera, Rudy Muñoz; Stheven Robles (José Rosales, m.69), Darwin Lom (Rubio Méndez, m.58), Antonio López (Pedro Altan, m.58), José Morales; Óscar Santis (Óscar Castellanos, m.58) and Jonathan Franco.
– Selector: Luis Tena (Mexican).
– Goal: 0-1, m.46: Óscar Santis.
– Referee: Pierre Luc Lauziere (from Canada). He admonished Ordaz of El Salvador and the Guatemalans Morales and Samayoa.
– Incidents: Match of the fourth date of Group A of the Concacaf qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup played at the Cuscatlán stadium, in San Salvador.
