El Salvador

El Salvador qualified for the preliminary play-off after topping Group B of League B in the Concacaf Nations League when they won all six of their matches, with 24 goals from a number of different players.

What to expect

Brenda Ceren led the way in scoring five goals, closely followed by Danya Gutierrez, Samaria Gomez and Danielle Fuentes with four goals each.

In the preliminary round they dominated Guatemala – a nation they had a 7-2 losing record against – running out 3-1 winners, though it could have been a lot more.

Ranked 101^st in the world, they have yet to be really tested at the elite level of women’s national team competition but will find how competitive they are pretty soon, opening their campaign against Canada in Group C.

Players to watch

Striker Brenda Ceren was El Salvador’s stand out player in preliminary round. While small in stature she is quick, finds space and has an eye for goal, scoring all three in El Salvador’s preliminary round win over Guatemala that qualified them for the group A of the W Gold Cup.

She played in El Salvador’s youth teams before making her senior debut in 2018, having played 18 times since then.

In 2023 she joined Atlas FV in Mexico and has scored three times in 15 matches.

Both her brothers – Darwin and Oscar – have played for El Salvador’s senior men’s team.

Samantha Fisher is an attacking midfielder who a key link in transition for the El Salvadoreans as well as a physical threat in the box.

Manager

Eric Acuna is very much a product of El Salvadorean football and has built a team based on youth and players coming through the national team programme.

He has been coach of both the Senior Women’s National Team, along with the Under-20s and Under-17s, for the past two years, with the qualification for the Group stage of the W Gold Cup proof that his system is getting results.

Schedule

February 22 vs Canada

February 25 vs Costa Rica

February 28 vs Paraguay