The Mexican U-23 team secured its place in the semifinals of the men's soccer tournament of the Central American and Caribbean Games Santo Domingo 2026 after beating Guatemala 4-1 on the third day of Group A. The victory allowed the team led by Eduardo Arce to finish as the leader of its sector and remain undefeated in the competition.
The match played at the Cibao FC Stadium began in an adverse manner for Mexico. Just in the 2nd minute, a set piece ended with an own goal by Karol Velázquez, who deflected the ball towards his own goal after a cross sent by Diego Fernández.
The Mexican reaction did not take long to arrive. At 14 minutes, Jesús Serrato filtered a pass into the area and Tahiel Jiménez scored before the goalkeeper came out to equalize the score.
Although the tie came early, the comeback did not materialize during the first half. Mexico improved its performance, generated approaches and gained control of the match, but found resistance in the Guatemalan defense before the break.
Tahiel Jiménez led the Mexican comeback
The second half completely changed the course of the match and had an undisputed protagonist. Tahiel Jiménez scored a hat trick in less than ten minutes and led the Mexican victory.
The second goal came in the 50th minute in a free kick action. Juan Pablo Uribe threatened to charge, but it was Jiménez who took the shot; The ball deflected off the barrier and dislocated the goalkeeper to make it 2-1.
Eight minutes later, the forward appeared again. After a corner kick taken from the right, he anticipated the defenders and finished off with a header to make it 3-1.
The account was closed with a volley goal from Rogelio González, which extended the advantage and sealed the final result.
Leader of the group and next confirmed rival
Mexico came into this match as the leader of Group A with four points, the product of a victory and a draw. In their debut they had defeated Venezuela 1-0 with a goal from Joaquín Moxica in the 87th minute, while on the second day they tied against the Dominican Republic thanks to a goal from Jonathan Pérez in the final minutes.
The victory over Guatemala represented the Mexican team's strongest performance in the group stage.
The classification was also confirmed with Venezuela's 3-2 victory over the Dominican Republic. With these results, Mexico finished first in the group ahead of Venezuela and the Dominican Republic.
Guatemala, for its part, closed its participation without points. Before facing Mexico they had lost 0-1 against the Dominican Republic and 1-3 against Venezuela.
The Mexican team will play the semifinals against Panama, seeking to advance to the final and keep alive the possibility of winning the gold medal again at the Central American and Caribbean Games.
