Action from Central American U-20 qualifying match between Nicaragua (white jersey) and Guatemala on July 16, 2016, in Panama City, Panama.
PANAMA CITY, Panama – The Central American qualifying tournament for the 2017 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship came to an exciting conclusion Saturday as the region’s final pair of berths were decided.
After Guatemala (5 points, GD 0) fell 1-0 to Nicaragua in the opener of a doubleheader at the Estadio Maracana, a draw between host Panama and El Salvador – both on four points and possessing positive goal differentials -- would have been enough to see both progress.
The Salvadorans, however, had different ideas, scoring a goal in each half through Denilson Rosales (16’) and Roberto Dominguez (59’ pen) to finish in second place with a 2-0 win. That result eliminated Panama, which ended the encounter with 10 players following the ejections of Cesar Blackman (51’) and Adalberto Carrasquilla (87’), and saw Guatemala grab the third spot.
Idle and unbeaten Honduras topped the five-team table with eight points.
The next CONCACAF Under-20 Championship will be held in Costa Rica February 17-March 5, 2017, at the Estadio Nacional and the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Ayma. The field will consist of twelve teams – host Costa Rica; Central American qualifiers El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras; automatic North American entrants Canada, Mexico and the United States; and five teams yet to be determined from the Caribbean.
2016 UNCAF UNDER-20 QUALIFYING
Estadio Maracana – El Chorrillo, Panama City, Panama
July 8–16, 2016
| Team | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | P |
| xHonduras | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 8 |
| xEl Salvador | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 7 |
| xGuatemala | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Panama | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 4 |
| Nicaragua | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 3 |
July 8, 2016
Guatemala 2, Honduras 2
Brolin Valdizon 6’; Esteban Garcia 42’ / Foslyn Grant 45’+1; Sendel Cruz 46’
Panama 6, Nicaragua 0
Cesar Blackman 36’; Leandro Avila 48’, 53’, 56’; Isidoro Hinestroza 67’, 89’
July 10, 2016
Honduras 2, El Salvador 1
Cristian Avila 10’; Jose Alejandro Reyes 68’ / Jose Enrique Contreras 25’
Panama 0, Guatemala 1
Durban Reyes 68’ pen
July 12, 2016
Nicaragua 0, Honduras 2
Sendel Cruz 74’; Jorge Alvarez 87’
Guatemala 2, El Salvador 2
Pedro Altan 30’; Jose Carlos Martinez 56’ pen / Marvin Marquez 23’ pen; Brayan Paz 79’
July 14, 2016
El Salvador 4, Nicaragua 0
Marco Rodriguez 26’; Fernando Castro 32’; Kevin Reyes 63’; Roberto Dominguez 71’
Panama 1, Honduras 1
Ricardo Avila 65’ pen / Rembrandt Flores 78’ pen
July 16, 2016
Nicaragua 1, Guatemala 0
Sixto Jarquin 72’
Panama 0, El Salvador 2
Denilson Rosales 16’; Roberto Dominguez 59’ pen
