HOUSTON — Canada secured their place in the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals by defeating El Salvador 2-0 on Tuesday night, with goals from Jonathan David and Tajon Buchanan scored in quick succession early in the second half. El Salvador faced elimination after the loss, ending the game with just nine players following the ejections of Santos Ortíz and Jairo Henríquez late in the first half.
With the victory, Canada topped Group B with seven points and will now face Guatemala in a quarterfinal match set for Sunday in Minneapolis. The winner of this encounter will move forward to meet either the U.S. or Costa Rica in the semifinals. Meanwhile, Mexico is scheduled to play Saudi Arabia and Panama will take on Honduras, both quarterfinal matches landing on Saturday in Glendale, Arizona.
After accumulating just one point and failing to score a goal in the group stage, El Salvador finished at the bottom of the group. This marked them as the 14th team to do so without finding the back of the net. Canada’s coach, Jesse Marsch, made his return from a two-game suspension, which stemmed from his conduct during a third-place match against the U.S. in the CONCACAF Nations League in March.
Jonathan David advanced Canada’s lead by scoring the first goal in the 53rd minute—his 35th for Canada in just 66 appearances. He achieved this by maneuvering a pass from Mathieu Choinière into the goal with a diagonal shot from approximately 15 yards, outmaneuvering goalkeeper Mario González. González, earlier in the game, had successfully blocked David’s penalty kick during first-half stoppage time, which followed a foul by Jefferson Valladares on Jacob Shaffelburg.
Tajon Buchanan added the night’s second goal at the 56th minute, skillfully lifting the ball over González following an assist from Niko Sigur, who had intercepted a pass by Diego Flores. As for El Salvador, Ortíz received two yellow cards, the first for challenges and the second after a lunging tackle on Sigur. Henríquez received a direct red card for an elbow to Alistair Johnston’s head.
Looking ahead, Ortíz and Henríquez will have to sit out as El Salvador commences their third round of World Cup qualifying in September. Elsewhere, Honduras secured a 2-1 victory over Curaçao in San Jose, California, thanks to a goal in second-half stoppage time by Luis Palma. Panama triumphed over Jamaica 4-1 in Austin, Texas, with Ismael Díaz’s hat trick leading them to win Group C with a 3-0 record, while the Reggae Boyz faced elimination during the group stage for the first time since 2009. The Guatemalan team emerged victorious over Guadeloupe with a 3-2 win in Houston.