Qatar vs El Salvador

The 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup knock-out stage gets underway as Qatar and El Salvador go head-to-head at the State Farm Stadium in the quarter-final showdown.

Qatar have qualified for the 2021 Gold Cup knock-outs as Group C winners, having racked up back-to-back group stage wins following a 3-3 draw with Panama on Matchday 1. As a result, Félix Sánchez’s men go into this quarter-final showdown unbeaten in 11 consecutive international games, friendlies included (W9, D1). The ‘Maroon’ have been relentless in front of goal at the tournament thus far, netting 2+ goals in all three Gold Cup fixtures on an average of 3.00 goals per match. Indeed, they have bagged over 2.5 goals in three of their last five internationals, keeping three clean sheets in the process. Qatar’s defense has been up to the task lately, registering two consecutive Gold Cup shutouts after letting in three goals against Panama in their tournament curtain-raiser.

On the other hand, El Salvador started the competition with back-to-back 2-0 wins over Guatemala and Trinidad & Tobago. Curiously, three of their four goals scored across those triumphs came beyond the 80th minute. However, a narrow 1-0 loss to Mexico on Matchday 3 saw them progress into the quarter-finals as Group A runners-up. ‘La Selecta’ have qualified for the Gold Cup quarter-finals six times in their ten tournament appearances in the 21st century. Unfortunately, each of their previous five attempts to reach the semi-finals fell flat. Interestingly, just one of El Salvador’s last ten international matches has ended level (W6, L3), with nine of those games seeing one or both sides fail to get on the scoresheet. Additionally, each of their last four fixtures featured under 2.5 total goals.