El Salvador and Panama will resume their respective World Cup 2026 qualifying campaigns with a clash at Estadio Jorge Gonzalez on Saturday in round three of the CONCACAF qualifiers.

The teams are separated by a point after the first two matches, following the hosts' 2-1 defeat to Suriname, while the visitors could only manage a point at home against Guatemala.

Match preview

After getting their qualifying journey underway with a 1-0 triumph over Guatemala on September 5, El Salvador welcomed Suriname to Estadio Cuscatian four days later with a chance to open up an early four-point advantage at the top of Group A and put themselves in position to end a 44-year wait for a World Cup appearance.

Radinio Balker's first-half strike had Hernan Gomez's men staring down the barrel of a first home defeat in two years, but Anfernee Dijksteel's own goal seemed to have spared their blushes, only for Dhoraso Klas to net an 81st-minute winner.

To add insult to injury, La Selecta were hit with a fine for their supporters' racist and discriminatory behaviour last time out, and they will now have to play their subsequent outing in front of a reduced home crowd.

La Selecta are second in Group A with three points from a possible six, ahead of their next involvement against an opposing outfit who have managed just one victory from the last four editions of this fixture.

With five of the last six meetings between Saturday's opponents yielding home victories, El Salvador will be hoping that the trend continues in the first of two consecutive qualifiers on home turf.

Back in action for the first time after crashing out to Honduras in the Gold Cup quarter-final, Panama played out a goalless stalemate against Suriname in their opening World Cup qualifier, after which another share of the spoils ensued following a 1-1 draw to Guatemala.

Despite being in the ascendancy for large spells of their most recent outing against Guatemala, Thomas Christiansen's men had to settle for a point and are now winless in three straight matches since claiming five straight victories between June 8 and 25.

A drop-off in attacking output has been perhaps the biggest contributing factor to Los Canaleros' recent struggles, with only two goals scored in the last three matches; a stark contrast to the 15 netted in five outings prior.

Third in Group A with three points from as many matches, Panama will now continue their quest to add to their solitary World Cup appearance in 2018 after narrowly missing out on the 2022 edition.

Keeping three consecutive clean sheets, Saturday's visitors have been defensively solid on their travels lately and will be aiming to keep things tight at the back once again to boost their chance of leaving San Salvador with maximum points.

El Salvador World Cup Qualifying - North Central America form:

El Salvador form (all competitions):

Panama World Cup Qualifying - North Central America form:

Panama form (all competitions):

Team News

Lasting just 44 minutes before he was subbed off for Styven Vasquez last time out, Nathan Ordaz saw his wait for a first international goal continue as he prepares for his sixth outing with El Salvador.

Darwin Ceren is still going strong at the age of 35 and will record his 104th cap to extend his lead at the top of the hosts' all-time appearances chart.

Having scored in three of his last four matches leading up to Saturday's game, Panamanian striker Tomas Rodriguez is a man in form and will be looking to deliver the goods once again.

Anibal Godoy's tally of 153 caps is already a national record that the midfielder will be expected to add to, partnering Jose Rodriguez in the centre of the pitch.

El Salvador possible starting lineup:

Gonzalez; Valladares, Sibrian, Romero, Dominguez, Climaco; Ceren, Osorio, Landaverde; Ordaz, Gil

Panama possible starting lineup:

Mosquera; Murillo, Escobar, Andrade, Davis; Godoy, Rodriguez; Barcenas, Carrasquilla, Diaz; Fajardo

We say: El Salvador 0-1 Panama

With both teams labouring in attack of late, a low-scoring encounter is on the cards here.

That said, we are tipping Panama to quieten their hosts and leave with maximum points at the end of the 90 minutes.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Adepoju Marvellous

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