First place in Group A will be on the line on Sunday, when Mexico face El Salvador in the final round-robin match for both sides at the Gold Cup from the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
La Selecta punched their ticket into the quarter-finals with a 2-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago, while the reigning champions eased past Guatemala 3-0 in their previous game.
Match preview
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As they search for their ninth title in this competition, Gerardo Martino saw his Mexican side get their goalscoring form back against the Guatemalans after failing to solve Trinidad and Tobago keeper Marvin Phillip in their opening game.
Mexico did almost everything right statistically versus the Soca Warriors, but they were even better in match number two, with eight shots on target, a 90% pass accuracy and most importantly, they scored three more goals than they did in their opener.
This team look more than ready to defend their title successfully, but they have not officially cleared the group stage hurdle just yet, and they will need at least a point this weekend to guarantee themselves passage into the last eight.
El Tri have had their way with the Salvadorians in recent memory, winning their last seven encounters against them, but it will likely be a much tougher match than the one they had against them at the 2017 Gold Cup, which ended with them winning 3-1.
In their final round-robin match, a victory for Mexico would mark the third straight time they have captured their group in this tournament.
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El Salvador have been turning many heads with their performances in their first two fixtures at the Gold Cup, and they look like legitimate contenders for the title.
Despite their opponents trying to clog up the middle of the pitch, El Salvador had little trouble creating several goalscoring opportunities against Trinidad and Tobago, firing eight shots on target and earning a second successive 2-0 win.
With their passage into the knockout stage already assured, it will be interesting to see what approach manager Hugo Perez takes into their final match, either playing to win the group or choosing to rest his top players for the quarter-finals.
While their attacking game has come to life at this tournament, the backbone of this team is still in defence, and they have been as solid as ever, conceding only two goals in their last 10 contests.
They will probably face their biggest challenge yet when they battle Mexico, but El Salvador have a strong attacking prowess that their opponents on Sunday will have to respect, so do not expect to see the Mexicans taking as many chances going forward as they did in their opening two fixtures.
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Team News
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Rogelio Funes Mori rediscovered his scoring touch on Wednesday with a pair of goals, and he now has three for his country in only three appearances.
Midfielder Orbelin Pineda made his first start of the tournament, playing a little higher up the field than usual in place of Hirving Lozano, who was knocked out of this competition with a head injury versus the Soca Warriors.
Mexico made one change to their back four from their previous match, with Jesus Gallardo starting at left-back instead of Osvaldo Rodriguez, while Erick Sanchez, Alan Pulido and Gilberto Sepulveda all made their first appearances from the substitutes bench.
El Salvador goalkeeper Mario Gonzalez had to make one more save than he did in the opening game, but he was up to the task, collecting his second successive clean sheet.
Walmer Martinez notched his first international goal since June 8, while midfielder Jairo Henriquez found the back of the net for his country for the first time.
Perez went with the same back four as in their previous match, but he made one change on the front end with Joaquin Rivas starting higher up the field, while Darwin Ceren played just in behind him and Marvin Monterroza played as a striker with Henriquez in an attacking midfield role.
Mexico possible starting lineup:
Talavera; Gallardo, Salcedo, Araujo, K. Alvarez; Cervantes, Ef. Alvarez, Sanchez; Pineda, Funes Mori, Corona
El Salvador possible starting lineup:
Gonzalez; Larin, Gomez, Zavaleta, Roldan; Portillo, Orellana, Ceren, Perez; W. Martinez, Moreno
We say: Mexico 2-1 El Salvador
Mexico have not lost to El Salvador in over a dozen years, and given that they need a result to assure their spot in the next round, they should be at their very best, knowing that they could also finish first with a victory.
El Salvador have put together two very impressive matches so far, but the Mexicans should have an answer for anything they try to throw at them.
Top tip
Joel Lefevre
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Mexico win with a probability of 58.47%. A draw had a probability of 22.5% and a win for El Salvador had a probability of 18.98%.
The most likely scoreline for a Mexico win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.34%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.45%) and 2-1 (9.88%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.71%), while for a El Salvador win it was 0-1 (5.82%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with an 11.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for Mexico in this match.
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