For the first time in their history, Guatemala and Martinique will meet on matchday one of the new CONCACAF Nations League campaign on Thursday at Estadio Doroteo Guamuch Flores.
Although these two teams were in the same group at this tournament a year ago, they never faced each other, with the Guatemalans finishing with four points from four matches, three fewer than Martinique, who were two points back of a spot in the quarter-finals.
Match preview
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Guatemala will hope their debut campaign in League A will serve them well for their second go-around, winning just one of their four matches at this stage a year ago.
Luis Fernando Tena's men began this competition last year promisingly, claiming four points from their first two games, but they showed too much complacency in their match with Trinidad and Tobago, squandering a 2-0 lead after 31 minutes and losing 3-2.
In seven previous Nations League encounters played at Estadio Doroteo Guamuch Flores, La Bicolor have never lost, conceding only once along the way in a 1-1 draw against Panama last season.
Since winning their first two fixtures in 2026 CONCACAF World Cup qualifying, Guatemala have gone winless in three matches across all competitions, coming from behind to claim a 1-1 draw with the Uruguay A squad in a friendly this past weekend.
Only once in 2024 have they been beaten after drawing first blood, when an own-goal from Lautaro Martinez gave them a shock early lead, before the Inter Milan striker and Lionel Messi each netted a brace for Argentina in a 4-1 friendly win for the world champions.
The Guatemalans are unbeaten in their previous three meetings against Caribbean opponents across all competitions, without a goal conceded in any of those contests.
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After narrowly missing a place in the last eight of this competition a year ago, Martinique enter the new Nations League campaign with plenty of optimism.
That is enhanced by their consistent form of late, unbeaten in four successive matches across all competitions, most recently playing to a 1-1 draw with Suriname in a non-sanctioned friendly back in March.
Counting that match, Marc Collat's side have posted three clean sheets in their previous four encounters but have not scored more than once in 90 minutes since a 6-4 defeat versus Costa Rica in the 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup group stage.
To make that leap beyond the group stage of this tournament, Les Matinino need to improve their form as the visitors, winless in four League A contests away from home and without a single goal scored.
In two League A campaigns, this side have only suffered one defeat when scoring first, losing 2-1 versus Costa Rica in March 2023 while winning twice last season when netting the opener by a 1-0 score.
Martinique have been outscored by a combined margin of 10-0 in four League A encounters versus Central American opponents, with their only point against that region occurring at El Salvador in October 2023 (0-0 draw).
Team News
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Five Guatemalans who were in the starting 11 against El Salvador in July were in the opening lineup this weekend versus Uruguay, Allen Yanes, Kevin Ruiz, Oscar Castellanos, Kevin Ramirez and Elmer Cardoza.
Pedro Altan answered the opening goal by Uruguay on Sunday with an equaliser in the 67th minute, his third with the national team.
There are five Martinique players available on Thursday without a cap for the senior side, including Rudy Varane, Lucas Ardennes, Marvin Bellance, Alexis Lovy and Aldrick Boulois.
Johnny Marajo had the only goal in their previous Nations League victory over El Salvador last October, while Yannis Clementia made three stops to collect a clean sheet.
Guatemala possible starting lineup:
Hagen; Yanes, Pinto, Ruiz, Castellanos, Franco; Ramirez, Dominguez, Mejia, Altan; Martinez
Martinique possible starting lineup:
Clementia; Dussaut, Poulolo, Rivierez, Burner; Mandouki, Appin; Grelet, Cavelan, Marajo; Labeau
We say: Guatemala 1-0 Martinique
These two sides are well-organised on the back end, but we believe the Guatemalan's overall depth is greater than Martinique's, which should propel the home side to a narrow triumph.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
