Guatemala National Football Team Games: Schedule & Results

Guatemala’s national football team, nicknamed Los Chapines, has spent decades grinding through CONCACAF qualification cycles with little to show for it — no World Cup finals appearances, no Gold Cup titles, and periodic disruptions from political interference. For fans checking whether a match is coming up or catching up on a result, the landscape can be confusing. This tracker cuts through it: full schedule, recent results, and the context that explains why the team keeps falling short at the last hurdle.

Gold Cup Wins: 0 ·
World Cup Finals Appearances: 0 ·
2026 Qualifier Result: Eliminated after Panama draw ·
Last Match: 3-1 win vs Suriname (19 Nov 2025)

Key details about Guatemala’s national team and their 2026 World Cup qualification campaign are summarized in the table below.

Has Guatemala ever won a Gold Cup?

No. Guatemala has never won the CONCACAF Gold Cup in its history. The tournament, which serves as the region’s flagship national team competition, has been contested dozens of times since 1991, and Los Chapines have never finished at the top of the podium.

Tournament history

Guatemala’s Gold Cup record reflects the team’s ceiling within CONCACAF. They have appeared in the tournament multiple times but consistently exited before the final. The closest they came was a semifinal appearance, a stage that has proven to be a wall the team cannot breach. This pattern is consistent with Guatemala’s broader international record: competitive enough to reach major tournaments, not strong enough to win them.

Best performances

The best Gold Cup finishes for Guatemala came in editions where the team benefited from favorable draws and rode hot goalkeeping. However, without a trophy to show for it, the achievement registers as “competitive regular” rather than champion material. The data is unambiguous: zero titles, zero finals appearances in this competition.

The implication: Guatemala has been a persistent participant but never a dominator in CONCACAF’s premier tournament. For a nation with passionate football fans, this gap between expectation and achievement defines much of the national team’s identity.

Is Guatemala eliminated from the World Cup in 2026?

Yes. Guatemala’s bid for the 2026 FIFA World Cup ended after the third round of CONCACAF qualifying. The team finished third in Group C with a 2-2-2 record, leaving them outside the automatic qualification spots and without access to the play-off pathway that Suriname secured.

Recent qualifiers

The campaign unfolded across two qualification rounds before arriving at the decisive third round. In the second round Group E, Guatemala compiled a 4-3-2 record over nine matches, finishing behind Jamaica which topped the group with an unbeaten run. The third round was where the arithmetic became unforgiving. Six matches against Panama, Jamaica, and Guadeloupe produced two wins, two draws, and two losses — enough for third place, not enough for anything beyond that.

Panama match impact

The 1-1 draw with Panama on 8 September 2025 in Panama City proved particularly costly. In a tight group where goal difference separated the teams, dropping points there left Los Chapines with no margin for error in the closing matches. When Suriname edged through on goal difference, Guatemala’s fate was sealed. A draw that felt like a point gained became two points lost in retrospect.

What this means: The 2026 World Cup will proceed without Guatemala, extending a drought that dates back to the team’s only serious near-miss in the 1970s. The dream is not over — the next qualification cycle will open eventually — but the window for this cycle has closed.

Why did FIFA suspend Guatemala?

Guatemala has faced FIFA suspensions in the past due to political interference in the national federation. This is not a new phenomenon for Los Chapines — the team has navigated governance crises alongside its football challenges, compounding the difficulty of building consistent competitive results.

Suspension details

FIFA’s statutes prohibit government interference in national football associations. When political actors in Guatemala have sought to influence federation decisions — whether through appointing officials, redirecting funding, or overriding electoral processes — FIFA has responded with suspensions that exclude the national team and clubs from international competition.

Impact on games

During suspension periods, Guatemala’s teams cannot participate in official FIFA or CONCACAF competitions. This creates gaps in the competitive calendar that disrupt player development, fan engagement, and ranking points. For a team already struggling to qualify for major tournaments, these interruptions compound the structural disadvantages.

The catch: Even when the suspension lifts and competitive football resumes, the team is playing catch-up — rust, lost momentum, and a fractured sense of continuity among players and supporters. Political instability in the federation translates directly into competitive disadvantage on the pitch.

What is the Guatemala national football team schedule?

The CONCACAF qualification schedule for Guatemala ran in structured windows across 2024 and 2025. The first round legs against their initial opponents were played on 22 March 2024 and 26 March 2024. The second round unfolded across two windows: 5-11 June 2024 and 4-10 June 2025.

2025 fixtures

The third round was the decisive phase. Matchdays were scheduled as follows: 4-5 September 2025 (MD1), 8-9 September 2025 (MD2), 9-10 October 2025 (MD3), 13-14 October 2025 (MD4), 13 November 2025 (MD5), and 18 November 2025 (MD6). Guatemala’s final match of the campaign came on 19 November 2025 — a 3-1 victory over Suriname at Estadio El Trébol in Guatemala City. The schedule ended there. No further qualifiers were scheduled because the campaign had concluded.

2026 qualifiers

With the 2026 qualification cycle complete, Guatemala has no fixtures listed in the current schedule. Platforms like ESPN and FotMob show no upcoming matches for Los Chapines as of the latest update. The team is in a holding pattern until the next qualification cycle opens.

The pattern: Guatemala’s schedule follows the rigid CONCACAF window format, with long gaps between matchdays that test squad cohesion. When competitive football resumes, the gaps between cycles can stretch to years.

What are recent Guatemala national football team results?

Guatemala’s most recent competitive result was the 3-1 victory over Suriname on 19 November 2025 at Estadio El Trébol. This match ended the qualification campaign on a high note — a win, not a loss — but it came after elimination had already been confirmed.

Historical results

The 2026 qualifying run produced ten total matches across all rounds. In the second round Group E, Los Chapines posted 4 wins, 3 draws, and 2 losses over nine matches, scoring 18 goals and conceding 13. The third round was tighter: two wins, two draws, two losses across six matches. The overall record across the entire qualification campaign: 5 wins, 2 draws, 3 losses.

Notable results in the third round include the 0-1 loss to El Salvador on 8 September 2025 in Guatemala City, and the critical 1-1 draw with Panama on 8 September 2025 in Panama City. Both results shaped the final standings in ways that ultimately proved decisive.

Latest scores

The final match against Suriname on 19 November 2025 produced the following scorers: Darwin Lom opened the scoring in the 49th minute with a header from an Óscar Santis cross. Olger Escobar doubled the lead in the 57th minute with a left-footed shot. Óscar Santis added a third goal on a fast break in the 65th minute. Suriname’s Nicolás Samayoa scored an own goal in the second half. The match finished 3-1, but it was a victory that did not change the fundamental outcome — Suriname still advanced to the play-off on goal difference.

What this means: Guatemala ended where it started — outside the World Cup picture. The final win was meaningful for pride, but it altered nothing structurally. Suriname, from a smaller CONCACAF nation, took the play-off spot instead.

Key third round results from Guatemala’s 2026 World Cup qualification campaign are listed below.

Timeline

Three moments capture the arc of Guatemala’s 2026 World Cup qualification attempt, from early momentum to final disappointment.

The timeline below outlines key dates in Guatemala’s 2026 World Cup qualification campaign.

Quotes

Guatemala concludes World Cup Qualifying with win, Suriname heads to Play-Off.

— CONCACAF Official Report

After a scoreless first half, Darwin Lom broke the deadlock in the 49th minute to place Guatemala in the lead.

— CONCACAF Official Match Report

Summary

Guatemala’s national football team remains a familiar story in CONCACAF: passionate fanbase, competitive moments, no hardware. The 3-1 win over Suriname on 19 November 2025 provided a feel-good ending to the qualification campaign, but it obscured the reality that matters most — Los Chapines are not going to the 2026 World Cup. Suriname, with a fraction of Guatemala’s population and infrastructure, advanced to the play-off instead. For Guatemalan football stakeholders, the path forward requires addressing the structural gaps that keep producing third-place finishes in critical groups, or the pattern will simply repeat in the next qualification cycle.

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Guatemala’s national football team games draw from a legacy of triumphs, as explored in their history and achievements alongside recent performances.

Frequently asked questions