Details of their next friendly in California are announced – 2024-04-02 00:49:34

National Soccer

Guatemala National Team: Details of their next friendly in California are announced

Under the command of Mexican coach Luis Fernando Tena, Guatemala will face Nicaragua in a friendly that will be played in the United States.

Guatemalan fans applaud during a National Team match in the United States. (Free Press Photo: AFP)

The senior Guatemalan soccer team, under the command of Mexican coach Luis Fernando Tena, will face Nicaragua on May 26 in a friendly that will be played in the United States, as part of the preparation of both teams for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

The warm-up match will take place in Californiaat the Pay Pal Park stadium in San José, as reported this Monday by the Guatemalan National Soccer League.

The team led by Tena drew 0-0 with Venezuela and lost 0-2 with Ecuador last March, in both clashes also of a friendly nature with a view to the 2026 World Cup, which will take place in Mexico, the United States and Canada.

Guatemala and Nicaragua, in addition to Belize, are the only Central American countries that have never attended a senior World Cup.

Precisely Qualifying for the World Cup is Tena’s biggest challengewho was appointed as Guatemala’s coach in 2021, after the Central American country’s elimination from Qatar 2022.

Nicaragua is currently led by former Chilean soccer player Marco Figueroa and a little over a week ago the team under his command lost 0-2 to Peru in a friendly duel.

The qualifying round of the Confederation of North, Central America and the Caribbean Football (Concacaf) for the 2026 World Cup will begin next June for Guatemala and Nicaragua.

Guatemala’s first duel in the qualifying round will be on Wednesday June 5 in Guatemalan territory against Dominica.

Later he will play on Saturday June 8 against the British Virgin Islands For this match, Guatemala must travel and play as a visitor.

Then Luis Fernando Tena’s team will play a friendly against the world champion Argentina (June 14) and will have to wait until 2025, where they will face the Dominican Republic (June 6) and four days later against Jamaica to complete the second round of the qualifiers for the next World Cup.