El Salvador, Canada and Panama close to qualifying for the Octagonal final round

This weekend, the second round of the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying started with six teams fighting for the last three places in the Octagonal final round. The first legs started with Saint Kitts and Nevis against El Salvador, then Haiti against Canada and ended with Panama visiting Curaçao.

El Salvador did the job

On Saturday the ‘Cuscatlecos’ visited Saint Kitts and Nevis at the Warner Park Football stadium and they won 4-0. El Salvador went 3-0 up in the first half with a brace from Tony Rugamas (3rd and 27th minute) while Joshua Pérez scored on 20 minutes.

In the second half, Darwin Cerén scored from the penalty spot in the 64th minute to wrap up the win. The second leg will be played on Tuesday 15 June at the Estadio Cuscatlán.

Haiti can still eliminate Canada

The Canadian national team was able to obtain a 1-0 victory in their visit to Haiti in the first leg of the Second Round game. Cyle Larin gave them and early lead at the Stade Sylvio Cator. The second leg will be played on Tuesday 15 June at the Toyota Park.

"We knew if we could score early and score first, then we could take control of the game,” said Canada coach John Herdman in his post-match press conference. “The conditions were tough. Getting to the stadium and just seeing the quality of that field, although it's a turf pitch, it wasn't an easy field to play on. It was a bit sticky for the guys, and then the heat was pretty intense.”

Curaçao, the revelation team

Panama had a tough game at home against one of the biggest revelations of the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers. ‘Los Canaleros’ seemed to be in control of the game when Alberto Quintero (55th minute) and Cecilio Waterman (77th minute) scored in the second half.

But the visiting team was able to keep their hopes alive when Rangelo Janga scored in the 86th minute to make it 2-1 on full-time. The second leg will be played at the Ergilio Hato Stadium on 15 June.