For the first time in the history of this competition, Guatemala will feature in League A at the CONCACAF Nations League as they take on El Salvador at Estadio Nacional Doroteo Guamuch Flores on Thursday in the opening match for both teams.
At the previous Nations League tournament, the Guatemalans topped their League B group to earn a promotion into the top tier, while El Salvador finished second behind the USA in their first appearance on the A side in 2022-23.
Match preview
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A footballing nation that were once reeling from corruption allegations and a lengthy suspension from CONCACAF competitions have become a formidable team in the region.
Guatemala could not compete at the 2017 and 2019 Gold Cup tournaments because of those allegations within the federation, as they began at the bottom of the Nations League on the C side in 2019.
They had no problem climbing up to League B that year, winning all four of their matches played, scoring 25 goals with none conceded, and Guatemala carried that momentum into 2022-23, earning a massive 4-0 victory over French Guiana on the final matchday to top that group.
Luis Fernando Tena was the architect behind their previous Nations League success, and the Mexican has taken this program to new heights, with Los Chapines winning their group at the Gold Cup this summer for the first time, finishing ahead of the most recent Nations League runners-up, Canada.
As a result, Guatemala are now up to 107th in the FIFA rankings, which is nine places better than their previous spot.
In their five Nations League home matches, the Guatemalans have blown away their opponents, winning each of those encounters, outscoring the opposition 23-0 over that stretch.
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El Salvador begin their second stint in League A looking for redemption after some disappointing results over the past year.
There was a lot of hope that La Selecta could contend with the top teams in this region after Hugo Perez guided them into the final stage of 2022 World Cup qualifying and the quarter-finals of the 2021 Gold Cup.
Since then, though, this team have regressed, finishing bottom of their group at the Gold Cup this past summer, while they have yet to win a match all year, losing four of their seven games played.
After claiming 15 points and topping their League B group in 2019, La Selecta began the League A campaign in 2022-23 brightly with a 3-1 victory over Grenada but could not maintain that high level throughout the group phase, as they wound up second, five points behind the eventual tournament winners, the United States.
They had their opportunities to cause a massive upset at the 2022-23 Nations League though, but could not deliver that killer blow, conceding an injury-time equaliser at home to the US (1-1) before narrowly losing to the Yanks in Orlando (1-0).
La Selecta have lost their last two meetings against Los Chapines by a combined score of 6-0, while they have not beaten them in Guatemala since 2000 (1-0).
Team News
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For this match, Tena went with virtually the same Guatemalan squad that competed at the most recent Gold Cup, with Cristian Jimenez, Oscar Santis and Kevin Ruiz being the only newcomers this time around who were not selected for that tournament mentioned above.
Rubio Rubin led them with three goals in their previous Nations League campaign, with Santis notching two, while Ricardo Jerez earned two clean sheets at home and Nicholas Hagen had one.
Nathaniel Mendez-Laing is off to a great start with his club side Derby County, tied for the team lead with two assists in League One, while Rubin led them with two goals at the last Gold Cup with Darwin Lom and Carlos Mejia also netting in that competition.
German Fuentes, Aljandro Henriquez, Rafael Tejada and Emerson Mauricio were the only El Salvador players selected for this encounter who have yet to feature for the senior squad.
Their only goalscorers during the last Nations League campaign, Nelson Bonilla and Alexander Larin, were not named to the roster for this match, with the former sitting two goals back of Magico Gonzalez for third all-time with the national team, having notched a total of 19 with La Selecta.
Alex Roldan and Joaquin Rivas were the last Salvadorans to score in a match against Guatemala when they claimed a 2-0 victory in the group stage of the 2021 Gold Cup, with Mario Gonzalez collecting a clean sheet on that occasion.
Guatemala possible starting lineup:
Jerez; Herrera, Pinto, Castellanos, Gordillo, Morales; Saravia, Mejia, Galindo; Mendez-Laing, Rubin
El Salvador possible starting lineup:
Romero; Tamacas, Zavaleta, Flores, Roldan; Cartagena, Martinez, Orellana; Reyes; Rivas, C. Gil
We say: Guatemala 1-0 El Salvador
El Salvador may be 32 places above Guatemala in the FIFA rankings, but they appear to be a little thin and inexperienced in the attack.
Los Chapines are coming off an impressive overall performance at the Gold Cup this past summer, and we believe the attacking quality of Mendez-Laing and Rubin could make the difference on Thursday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
