El Salvador
CONCACAF Region: Central America
Joining the D.R. in Group B/League B is “La Selecta” is looking to build on their progress in recent CONCACAF competitions. Forward Nelson Bonilla (52 caps, 12 goals), midfielder Oscar Ceren (28 caps, 6 goals), and defender Xavier Garcia (67 caps, 1 goal) are ready to build off of their performance at the Gold Cup this past summer. Their record against the rest of their group (plays Montserrat on October 12th) is solid (4-1), but it’s the rest of the confederation that they tend to struggle with. They can easily win Group B but how they perform beyond that remains a question.
Why They Will Win: They continue to make progress in international tournaments as evidenced by the fact that they’ve qualified for the last seven Gold Cups, they’ve medaled in two of the last three Central American Games, and they’ve reached fourth place or higher in the last six Copa Centroamericanas.
Why They Won’t: The tram tends to struggle against CONCACAF opposition (156-190-95 record).
Guatemala
CONCACAF Region: Central America
This will be the first international tournament that Guatemala has participated in since FIFA lifted the suspension of Guatemala’s National Football Federation. The program was suspended in 2016 as part of FIFA’s crackdown on corruption in the sport. Striker Danilo Guerra (8 caps, 1 goal), defender Carlos Gallardo (58 caps, 3 goals), and midfielder Rodrigo Saravia (10 caps) have their work cut out for them. They’ll face Puerto Rico and Anguilla in Group C of League C against whom they’ve had success (3-0 combined record), and they’ll resume Nations League play on October 12th.
Why They’ll Win Win: Now that they have been reinstated by FIFA, the Guatemalan’s are eager to prove that they are among the region’s best teams.
Why They Won’t: Not playing for four years means that they have some rust to work off.
Honduras
CONCACAF Region: Central America
They qualified after defeating El Salvador and losing by just one goal against both Jamaica and Curacao at this year’s Gold Cup. For the Nations League “Los Catrachos” is paired up in Group C of League A which includes fellow Gold Cup participants Martinique (hosts them on October 13th) and Trinidad and Tobago. This will be the first time that they’ve played Martinique, but they are familiar with Trinidad. Yet, potential matchups with Team USA, Costa Rico, or Mexico in the latter rounds of League A will be a challenge. The Hondurans are led by forward Alberth Elis (39 caps, 8 goals), and defender Maynor Figueroa (159 caps, 6 goals).
Why They Will Win: They’re a constant CONCACAF contender and it’s only a matter of time before they win a major international trophy.
Why They Won’t: They have to navigate a loaded League A which could present matchups with Team USA, Mexico, and Costa Rica.
Focus shifts to Honduras after friendly in Toluca#EveryGameCounts #CONCACAFNationsLeaguehttps://t.co/720aQHrs0S pic.twitter.com/anaeDjkcKf
— TTFA (@TTFootballAssoc) October 3, 2019