Preview:Guatemala vs El Salvador - prediction, team news, lineups

In an all-Central American matchup Thursday, Guatemala and El Salvador square off in the third round of CONCACAF World Cup 2026 qualifying at Estadio Cementos Progreso.

La Bicolor made it into this phase by finishing second behind Jamaica with nine points in round two, while El Salvador were runners-up as well collecting one point fewer than Suriname.

Match preview

With eyes on a place in the World Cup for the first time, Guatemala should enter the third round of qualifying feeling very confident about their recent form.

Luis Fernando Tena’s men are coming off a semi-final appearance at the Gold Cup in July, narrowly losing their final-four fixture versus the USA 2-1.

Despite going down in their final game of second-round qualification against Jamaica (3-0), they put together an impressive group phase, scoring 13 goals while posting two clean sheets.

They won their two group games played at home in round two by a combined margin of 10-2, while they have not lost a World Cup qualifier in Guatemala since November 2015 (2-1 versus Trinidad and Tobago).

Los Chapines have suffered just one defeat in their previous five encounters against Central American teams (3-0 versus Costa Rica in October 2024) but have only emerged victorious in one of those outings (2-1 win in March against Honduras).

Guatemala have won their previous three meetings against El Salvador, including a 3-0 triumph at the CONCACAF Nations League in September 2023.

It was an anxious second round for El Salvador, but in the end, their hopes of a third World Cup appearance are still alive thanks to a resilient effort on the final matchday.

A come-from-behind 1-1 draw with Suriname proved decisive as the Central Americans edged out Puerto Rico by a single point for that final spot in round three.

Hernan Dario Gomez has guided three teams to a World Cup appearance before (Colombia, Ecuador and Panama) but the 69-year-old has yet to make a significant impact for this team.

El Salvador are currently on a four-match winless run across all competitions and have failed to score a single goal in those previous three affairs.

Gomez has only won one match since taking charge of the national team when they shut out Anguilla 3-0 in a June World Cup qualifying contest.

In the final stage of World Cup 2022 qualifying, La Selecta lost five of their seven away matches, with their only triumph coming at Honduras in January 2022 (2-0).

Guatemala World Cup Qualifying - North Central America form:

Guatemala form (all competitions):

El Salvador World Cup Qualifying - North Central America form:

El Salvador form (all competitions):

Team News

On Thursday, Jose Carlos Pinto can reach 75 caps for Guatemala, Aaron Herrera is one away from 20, and Oscar Santis can get to the half-century mark in that department.

Nicholas Hagen started three of their four second-round qualifiers, posting two clean sheets, while Santis led them with three goals, giving him a chance to move all alone into seventh for La Bicolor all-time with his next one.

In El Salvador, Nelson Rodriguez and Noel Rivera are the only uncapped players chosen for this window, while Bryan Tamacas is two appearances away from Alexander Larin’s mark of 86, the second-most all-time.

Brayan Gil had two goals for them in their final two second-round qualifiers, including the equaliser against Suriname, which enabled them to advance.

Guatemala possible starting lineup:

Hagen; Herrera, Pinto, Samayoa, Morales; Saravia, Rosales; Santis, Altan, Lom; Rubin

El Salvador possible starting lineup:

Gonzalez; Valladares, H. Romero, Sibrian, Tamacas; Ceren; Perez, Diaz, Osorio, Landaverde; Gil

We say: Guatemala 2-0 El Salvador

Under Tena, we have seen real progress for the Guatemalans, who have demonstrated their ability to compete with some of the powerhouse nations in CONCACAF.

On the other hand, El Salvador have not been able to do much except defend and play too aggressively, and we do not expect Los Chapines to fall for those tactics.

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