Guatemala, Canada advance to Gold Cup quarterfinals
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Carlos Leon-Trejo, Contributor
- June 25, 2025
Guatemala advances for second Gold Cup in a row
HOUSTON- As Guatemala tried to put away Guadeloupe on Tuesday night, the Chapines’ supporters encouraged them with constant loud chants of “Si se puede.”
That rally cry continued throughout the first game of a Gold Cup doubleheader at Shell Energy Stadium.
Ultimately, Guatemala’s national soccer team proved their fans right. Guatemala won 3-2 to advance to the Gold Cup quarterfinals.
Canada defeated El Salvador 2-0 in the second match before a crowd of 14,994.
In what became a back-and-forth match, Guatemala got on the board first. Center back Jose Pinto converted a penalty kick in the 13th minute with a right-footed shot to the center of the goal.
Beautiful young chip
CF Montreal midfielder Olger Escobar, 18, followed with a beautiful goal in the 29th minute. The teen chipped a right-footed shot from the center of the goal to give Guatemala a 2-0 lead.
At 18 years and 287 days old, Escobar is the youngest player to score at the 2025 Gold Cup.
Guadeloupe roared back in the second half. Ange-Freddy Plumain cut the deficit to 2-1 with a penalty kick in the 50th minute. In the 70th minute, Rubio Rubín scored for Guatemala from close range.
Guadeloupe scored again in the 78th minute to get back within one. Matthias Phaëton sent a right-footed shot from the left side into the top right corner, Thierry Ambrose provided the assist.
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Guatemala earned six points with the 3-2 victory over Guadeloupe, finishing second in Group C. Guadeloupe was eliminated from the Gold Cup.
“It’s huge for us. That’s two Gold Cups in a row now,” Guatemala right back Aaron Herrera said. “It’s very special for us.
“We knew coming into this one that we had a tough group, but at the same time we believed we had the quality to go to the next round. And we were able to fortunately come out and prove that.”
Canada cruises
The second game of the doubleheader got a little testy almost immediately between El Salvador and Canada. El Salvador was reduced to nine men in the first half after midfielder Santos Ortiz was shown a second yellow card for a reckless tackle on Niko Sigur.
Midfielder Jairo Henríquez was also shown a red card for elbowing Alistair Johnston in the face during a stoppage after a video review.
The second red card came after goalkeeper Mario Gonzalez stopped Jonathan David’s penalty kick.
In the 53rd minute, Jonathan David put Canada on the board with a right-footed shot from the left side of the goal to the bottom right corner. He was assisted by midfielder Mathieu Choinière. Forward Tajon Buchanan scored a goal by sending a left footed shot from the center of the goal to the bottom left corner. He was assisted by Niko Sigur.
La Selecta was eliminated. Guatemala will face Canada next in the quarterfinals July 2 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
Carlos Leon-Trejo
Contributor
Carlos Leon-Trejo is a co-host on the Bring on the Blitz! podcast on the Our Esquina network. A graduate of the University of Houston-Victoria, Leon-Trejo teaches fifth grade math and science in Houston ISD.
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