The selection of Guatemala won this Tuesday 3-1 against Surinam at the closing of the group stage of the qualifying rounds of the Concacafa result that, combined with Panama’s victory, deprived the Caribbean team of a direct ticket to the 2026 World Cup and relegated it to the intercontinental play-offs.
At the Manuel Felipe Carrera ‘El Trébol’ stadium, the Guatemalan squad, with no mathematical options to qualify, played for honor and gave one last joy to its fans against a rival that came as leader of group A, but succumbed to the pressure.
Although Guatemala dominated the pace in the first half, the score did not move until the second half. Darwin Lom opened the account in the 52nd minute with an accurate header after a cross from Óscar Santis, destabilizing the visitors’ scheme.
Just five minutes later, Olger Escobar, who had just entered, extended the lead by finishing with quality after a filtered pass from Rudy Muñoz. The local party continued in the 65th minute, when Óscar Santis eluded the goalkeeper in an individual play to declare the temporary victory.
TECHNICAL SHEET
3 – Guatemala: Nicholas Hagen; Nicolás Samayoa, José Pinto, José Morales, Aaron Herrera; Pedro Altán (Escobar, m.56), José Rosales (Saravia, m.72), Jonathan Franco; Darwin Lom (Rubín, m.68), Rudy Muñoz (López, m.73) and Óscar Santis (Evans, m.68).
1 – Suriname: Warner Hahn; Myenty Abena (Denswil, m.79), Shaquille Pinas, Djavan Anderson, Ridgeciano Haps (Balker, m.62); Dhoraso Klas (Misidjan, m.62), Justin Lonwijk (Grot, m.45), Kenneth Paal; Tjaronn Chery, Richonell Margaret and Denzel Jubitana (Becker, d.53).
Goals: 1-0, Darwin Lom (m. 52); 2-0, Olger Escobar (m. 57); 3-0, Óscar Santis (m. 65); 3-1, Nicolás Samayoa (in pp) at 90+3
Referee: Juan Calderón, from Costa Rica. He admonished José Rosales (m.55) from Guatemala and Kenneth Paal (m.88) from Suriname.
Incidents: Match of the sixth and last date of Group A of the Concacaf qualifiers towards the 2026 World Cup, played at the Manuel Felipe Carrera stadium (El Trébol) in Guatemala City.
Suriname, forced to win to secure first place, was emotionally overwhelmed when it learned that Panama was simultaneously beating El Salvador. The discount came very late, in the 93rd minute, through an own goal by defender Nicolás Samayoa. With this outcome, Panama qualifies directly for the World Cup, Suriname will have to look for its ticket in the playoffs, and Guatemala closes the qualifying cycle by washing its image at home.
