Guatemala Vs Dominican Republic

The 2026 FIFA World Cup CONCACAF qualifiers are set to resume this week, and on Friday, Guatemala will face the Dominican Republic at Estadio Cementos Progreso.

Guatemala currently leads Group E with a perfect record of two wins from two games, while the Dominican Republic sits third after splitting their games, with one win and one loss.

The expansion of the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers to 48 teams, along with the automatic berths granted to Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creates a golden opportunity for several Central American teams to capitalize on.

This includes Guatemala, one of several nations currently pursuing their maiden World Cup appearance in this competition, alongside the likes of Guyana, Puerto Rico, Grenada, and the Dominican Republic.

Los Chapines will enter this match with confidence, having made a strong start to their campaign, securing back-to-back wins over Dominica and the British Virgin Islands in their first two games last year.

Luis Fernando Tena's side scored a total of nine goals in those games without conceding and pulled off an excellent comeback against Guyana to qualify for the Gold Cup, overturning a 3-2 first-leg defeat to win 4-3 on aggregate after the second leg.

These two sides met home and away in the CONCACAF Nations League group stage in June 2022, playing to a 1-1 draw in Santo Domingo before Guatemala secured a 2-0 victory on home soil three days later.

Meanwhile, many consider the current crop of Dominican Republic players their golden generation, and the team has been in great shape leading up to this crucial World Cup qualifier.

Los Quisqueyanos had an excellent CONCACAF Nations League campaign, finishing top of their group with a perfect record of six wins from six, which earned them promotion to League A and entry to the Gold Cup.

Marcelo Neveleff's side is now unbeaten in their last nine matches across all competitions, eight of which ended in victory, while his team also maintained clean sheets in five games during that period.

The last time the visitors lost a match was their first-round fixture in this competition against Jamaica last June, and their record since then has seen them move up two places to 139th in the FIFA world rankings.