The selection of Panama won 0-1 on the visit to its counterpart from El Salvador this Friday on the third day of Group A of the qualifying rounds of the Concacaf for him 2026 World Cupin a match that was played at the Cuscatlán stadium, in San Salvador. With this result, Panama, led by the Spanish Thomas Christiansen, rises to second place in the Group A standings by adding 5 points, the same as Suriname, which is the leader after drawing 1-1 with Guatemala.
El Salvador, led by Colombian Hernán ‘Bolillo’ Gómez, drops to third place with 3 points, while Guatemala remains in fourth position with 2. The goal of Panama’s first victory in these qualifiers was signed by José Fajardo.
A penalty in favor of Panama in the 26th minute of the match and a goal disallowed for El Salvador in the 44th due to an offside position by Brayan Gil, marked the first half, in which both teams began with an intense game but the visiting team little by little took possession of the ball, generating more arrivals than the locals. Furthermore, an injury to Panamanian José Córdoba in the 10th minute forced Spaniard Christiansen to make a change to make way for Jiovany Ramos, which did not change the proposed attack scheme.
Mauricio Cerritos (El Salvador) disputes a ball with Adalberto Carrasquilla
El Salvador opted for attack, but throughout the match their forwards were forced to reinforce their defense under pressure from the Panamanians, who were superior in attack and defense.
The Salvadoran fans remained silent when, in the 26th minute, defender Roberto Domínguez committed an alleged foul on Adalberto Carrasquilla that led Canadian referee Drew Fischer to award a penalty. However, the locals asked to review the play and after this Fischer annulled his initial decision.
The game continued under the control of the Panamanians and in the 44th minute they were surprised by a long pass from the right wing that reached the feet of Jeferson Valladares who passed it to Gil and he scored. But the goal in favor of ‘Bolillo’ Gómez’s team was annulled after the review of the play.
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In the second half, the Colombian coach replaced his two cautioned players, Mauricio Cerritos and Brayan Landaverde, to prevent the team from getting complicated by an expulsion. However, these changes did not prevent the Panamanians from scoring in the 54th minute. Edgar Barcenas on the right sent an assist to Michalle Murrillo who handed it over to José Fajardo, who completely alone in the penalty position beat the Salvadoran goalkeeper, Mario González.
TECHNICAL SHEET
0 – El Salvador: Mario González; Julio Sibrian, Roberto Domínguez (Noel Rivera, m 77), Ronald Gómez, Adan Climaco, Jeferson Valladares, Mauricio Cerritos (Christian Martínez, m 45) (Nathan Ordaz, m59); Darwin Cerén, Brayan Landaverde (Marcelo Díaz, m 45); Brayan Gil and Styven Vásquez (Joshua Pérez, m59). Coach: Hernán Darío Gómez.
1 – Panama: Orlando Mosquera; Edgar Bárcenas (Edward Cedeño, m 82) José Córdoba, Fidel Escobar, Eric Davis, Michael Murillo; Cristian Martínez (César Blackman, m 89), José Rodríguez (Omar Browne, m 89), Adalberto Carrasquilla, Andrés Andrade; José Fajardo (Cecilio Waterman, m 82). Coach: Thomas Christiansen.
Goal: 0-1: José Fajardo (m. 54)
Referee: Drew Fischer, from Canada. He admonished Cerritos, Landaverde and Díaz, from El Salvador.
Incidents: match for the third date of Group A of the Concacaf qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, played at the Cuscatlán stadium, in San Salvador.
After the goal, the Colombian coach changed forward Styven Vásquez for Joshua Pérez, to freshen up the attack, and took out the recently introduced Christian Martínez for Nathan Ordaz. Panama also made its changes to face the last minutes of the game, which was intense again at the end but the score did not change.
