Guatemala vs El Salvador was supposed to be a tight Central American derby. It turned into the most one sided night of the new Concacaf Nations League. Guatemala won 6-0 at Estadio Manuel Felipe Carrera, the ground locals call El Trébol, in Guatemala City on Monday, September 28, with striker William Jehú Fajardo scoring three times. Darwin Lom, Rubio Rubín and Jorge Aparicio got the others. Three days earlier Guatemala had lost 3-2 in Kingston to Jamaica; El Salvador had beaten Martinique 3-1 at home.
The result lifts Luis Fernando Tena’s side to second in League A Group B on goal difference, but it does not put them top. That spot belongs to Suriname, the one team in the group with two wins from two.
How the goals went in
Guatemala needed eight minutes. Lom struck first, and according to Prensa Libre that goal took him to 15 for his country. Rubín doubled the lead on 28 minutes and Fajardo added the third four minutes later, so the game was effectively over at half time with the score at 3-0.
The hosts did lose winger Óscar Santis to injury around the break, with VAVEL reporting he was carried off. It barely slowed them. Aparicio made it 4-0 on 56 minutes, and Fajardo finished the job late on, scoring on 89 minutes and again in stoppage time to complete his hat trick.
La Prensa of Honduras notes that Fajardo, 25, plays his club football for Antigua and only made his Guatemala debut in 2024. He arrived in this game with one international goal and left with four.
Key numbers from Guatemala City
| Stat | Guatemala | El Salvador |
|---|---|---|
| Goals | 6 | 0 |
| Possession | 51% | 49% |
| Shots on target | 7 | 1 |
| Corners | 4 | 3 |
| Fouls committed | 5 | 15 |
| Accurate passes | 426 | 406 |
Figures from the ESPN match centre.
The table tells the real story. Possession was close to even and El Salvador completed almost as many passes. The gap was in front of goal: Guatemala put seven shots on target and scored with six of them, while El Salvador managed one attempt on target all night. Tena’s men also committed only five fouls, a third of the visitors’ total.
Why this win mattered for Tena
ClaroSports and La Prensa both describe this as Guatemala’s first win of 2026, which tells you how the year had gone. La Prensa also reported that the crowd was thin, with supporters staying away over ticket prices and the recent run of results. A six goal win over a regional rival is the kind of night that tends to bring people back.
For El Salvador and coach Hernán Darío Gómez, it was a hard fall after a positive start. The 3-1 win over Martinique in San Salvador had them level with the leaders on points. They now sit fifth, with a goal difference of minus four, in the zone that leads to a play in and relegation fight.
Nations League Group B table after two matchdays
Monday was busy across the group. Suriname beat Martinique 2-1 in Paramaribo, with Justin Lonwijk and Gyrano Kerk scoring. In Kingston, Honduras won 1-0 at Jamaica through a 14th minute goal from Keyrol Figueroa, a bounce back after their 3-2 home loss to Suriname on the opening night.
| Pos | Team | P | W | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Suriname | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 6 |
| 2 | Guatemala | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 3 |
| 3 | Honduras | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | Jamaica | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 5 | El Salvador | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | minus 4 | 3 |
| 6 | Martinique | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | minus 3 | 0 |
Five teams have three points or more, so the next two matchdays decide everything.
How the group works, in plain terms
This group uses a Swiss style format, so each of the six teams plays only four games, two at home and two away, rather than facing everyone. According to Concacaf, the top two go through to the quarter finals in November, where they join the four seeded League A sides: Mexico, the United States, Canada and Panama. Mexico drew 1-1 with Colombia in a friendly in Baltimore the same week. Third and fourth go to the Gold Cup preliminaries, and fifth and sixth drop into a play in and relegation route. The quarter finals are home and away ties, and the finals are set for SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles in March 2027.
What’s next: Guatemala vs Suriname, twice
Guatemala now face the leaders back to back. Here are the remaining Group B fixtures, as listed by Concacaf:
- Friday, October 2: Suriname vs Guatemala at Dr. Ir. Franklin Essed Stadion, Paramaribo, 6pm ET (4pm in Guatemala, 11pm BST). Martinique vs Honduras, 8pm ET. El Salvador vs Jamaica at Estadio Cuscatlán, 10pm ET.
- Monday, October 5: Martinique vs El Salvador, 6pm ET. Guatemala vs Suriname at Estadio Manuel Felipe Carrera, 8pm ET (6pm in Guatemala, 1am BST on October 6). Honduras vs Jamaica in Tegucigalpa, 10pm ET.
Two wins over Suriname would almost certainly send Guatemala through. Anything less, and the goals scored on Monday night may yet be what separates them from Honduras and Jamaica.
