Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the CONCACAF Gold Cup match.
Canada have made things unnecessarily complicated for themselves by dropping points against Curaçao. El Salvador, meanwhile, may find that even a win won’t be enough to keep their tournament hopes alive — though a result against the North Americans seems far-fetched anyway.
Canada
After dismantling Honduras (6:0), Canada looked on track to cruise through the group. But their second-half performance against Curaçao told a different story. Nathan Saliba opened the scoring from a free kick in the ninth minute — his second goal in as many games — but the team eased off too early. Canada ended the match with just six shots, three on target, in stark contrast to their 19 attempts (eight on goal) against Honduras. The drop in intensity cost them two points and added unnecessary pressure ahead of this final group fixture.
El Salvador
El Salvador are the only one of the 16 Gold Cup teams yet to score a goal. This is particularly disappointing considering they had found the net in all three June friendlies leading into the tournament — five goals in total, including strikes against Guatemala and Suriname. El Salvador have managed just 13 attempts in two matches, only two of which were on target. At that rate, even a single goal feels like a reach.
Canada vs El Salvador Prediction
There’s little reason to back this version of El Salvador. Canada should win comfortably, and a margin of two or more feels like a safe play — just as it was in both of their World Cup qualifying meetings.
