Honduras takes first place in Group B with victory at Concacaf U-20 Championship | OneFootball

IRAPUATO, Mexico – The 2024 Concacaf Men's U-20 Championship continued with the second round of encounters in Group B on Tuesday at the Sergio Leon Chavez Stadium in Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico.

Honduras rose to the top of Group B with a victory over El Salvador. Canada also collected three points to end the day in second place, while El Salvador fell to third.

Canada gets three points

Canada earned its first victory of the campaign with a 1-nil victory over the Dominican Republic.

Ethan Brown had a header on goal in the 12’ but was denied by Edwin Frias.

Israel Boatwright struck a header of his own from a corner kick in the 23’ but Christian Greco-Taylor headed the ball away from danger in front of the goal line.

Elian Concepcion was the Dominican player most threatening in attack, with three shots on goal. One of his best efforts came inside the box in the 53’ but was pushed away by Canada goalkeeper Gregoire Swiderski.

Lucas Breton struck from distance in the 60’ and nearly placed the Dominican Republic in front but was denied by the crossbar.

Tavio Ciccarelli scored the match-winning goal in the 86' to reward Canada with its first three points of the tournament. Santiago Lopez delivered the cross into the area for his second assist in consecutive matches.

Swiderski finished the match with three saves and collected his first clean sheet of the tournament.

The victory places Canada, now on four points, in the race for the quarterfinals ahead of the final stretch of the group stage.

Honduras jumps to first in Group B

Honduras defeated El Salvador, 4-1, to gain its first victory and first place in the group.

Nelson Diaz placed El Salvador in the lead in the 40' with a curling shot to the side netting.

Angel Villatoro tied the encounter in the 45'+1 with a strike from outside the box right before halftime.

Dereck Moncada completed the Honduran comeback in the 53' with a header off a free kick from Roberto Osorto.

Anfronit Tatum extended the lead for Honduras in the 66' with his own header off a free kick service from Osorto, who collected his second assist of the match.

Tatum completed his brace in the 84' off a long free kick attempt that took a bounce in the penalty area before finding the back of the net.

Group B concludes on Friday with El Salvador and Canada in a direct battle for a quarterfinal spot. Honduras and the Dominican Republic will play in the other group match of the night.

Haiti plays for first win, Panama eyes quarterfinals

Haiti and Panama will face each other for the third time in the CMU20C. Panama was the winner on those occasions at the 2007 and 2017 editions.

On top of gaining its first victory of the tournament against Panama, Haiti will be looking to collect its first three points of the current edition. Les Grenadiers began the campaign with a 4-nil loss to hosts Mexico.

Jonah Mednard will look to build on seven saves in the loss to Mexico. Bryan Destin had two shots for Haiti against Mexico and scored half of the nation’s goals in the qualifying tournament.

Panama started the tournament with a 3-nil win against Guatemala. Giovany Herbert scored the match-winning goal in the 5’ and Gustavo Herrera added a brace to give Los Canaleros a healthy lead before halftime.

Cecilio Burgess had one save against Guatemala and collected a clean sheet. Panama will look for a similar performance to secure its second victory and a place in the knockout round.

Guatemala, Mexico meet again

Mexico will host Guatemala in the third meeting in the group stage of the CMU20C between the neighboring nations.

In 10 all-time meetings, Mexico has won eight times with two draws. The most recent encounter ended in a 1-1 draw in the quarterfinals of the 2022 edition, with Guatemala advancing 2-1 on penalties.

Guatemala is looking for its first victory after falling 3-nil to Panama. Selvin Sagastume led Guatemala with three shots and five ball recoveries and is one of the young prodigies at 16 years old.

Rudy Muñoz has played in six CMU20 matches, extending from the 2022 edition. Additionally, he had three appearances in the FIFA U-20 World Cup Argentina 2023.

Hosts Mexico started the tournament with a 4-nil victory against Haiti. They will look for a second consecutive win to seal a ticket in the quarterfinals.

Xavier Biscayzacu was involved in the last two goals for Mexico, scoring one and assisting the other. Yael Padilla scored the opening goal against Haiti, which would end up being the match-winner, and ended the game with two shots and two ball recoveries.