Mexico vs El Salvador

Cotton Bowl is the venue as Mexico and El Salvador battle it out for a top place in the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup Group A.

Mexico bounced back from an underwhelming goalless draw with Trinidad & Tobago in their Group A curtain-raiser to beat Guatemala 3-0 on Matchday 2 and get on the verge of qualifying for the knock-outs. Seeking the Gold Cup knock-out stage qualification in their 23rd consecutive tournament appearance, ‘El Tri’ need to avoid defeat here to cement a second-place finish. The Mexicans head into proceedings as overwhelming favorites, having won each of their last seven H2H clashes against El Salvador, six of which yielded a winning margin of 2+ goals. Additionally, since losing the CONCACAF Nations League final to the United States via penalties in early June, Gerardo Martino’s men have gone unbeaten in their subsequent five international matches (W3, D2), keeping a clean sheet on each occasion.

On the other hand, El Salvador have qualified to the knock-out phase with a game to spare following identical 2-0 victories over Guatemala and Trinidad in the opening two group stage fixtures. Interestingly, three of El Salvador’s four strikes across those two matches came beyond the 80th minute, highlighting the potential for plenty of late action. Additionally, their impressive group stage performances represent a significant turnaround from their pre-tournament form that saw them go winless in three consecutive internationals (D1, L2), drawing a blank twice in the sequence. Before racking up back-to-back triumphs to open their 2021 Gold Cup journey, ‘La Selecta’ had failed to win two matches at a single final tournament in 12 consecutive appearances. Adding a third success here looks improbable, though, considering they’ve lost their last three Gold Cup meetings with Mexico by an aggregate score of 9-1.