Mexico and Qatar advanced to the Concacaf Gold Cup semifinals after picking up quarterfinal round victories on Saturday night.
El Tri rolled past Honduras 3-0 with three different players getting on the scoresheet. Tata Martino’s side will next prepare to face the winner of Sunday’s matchup between Costa Rica and Canada.
Qatar rolled out to a three goal lead over El Salvador in Saturday’s first quarterfinal, but eventually had to hang on for a 3-2 victory to advance. Almoez Ali scored twice for Qatar while Abdulaziz Hatem also found the back of the net in the win.
Look back on Saturday’s Gold Cup action here:
Mexico 3, Honduras 0
(Rogelio Funes Mori 26′, Jonathan Dos Santos 31′, Orbelin Pineda 38′)
Billy Hardiman-USA TODAY Sports
Mexico cruised past Honduras 3-0 to book a spot in the final four of the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup.
🎥 Resumen: 🇲🇽 México selló su pase a las semifinales de #CopaOro21 con una victoria por 3-0 ante 🇭🇳 Honduras en Arizona. #EstoEsNuestro pic.twitter.com/xBtG813lmk
— Gold Cup (@GoldCup) July 25, 2021
Rogelio Funes Mori started the busy first half for Mexico in the 26th minute, heading home Luis Rodriguez’s cross into the bottom-left corner. Honduras fell into an early hole against El Tri and didn’t recover as it watched its opponents score twice more before halftime.
Jonathan dos Santos added to El Tri’s lead in the 31st minute, scoring from a perfectly placed free kick to make it 2-0. Funes Mori drew the foul and Dos Santos did the rest to add to the advantage.
Orbelin Pineda made it 3-0 before the interval after heading home Jesus Corona’s cross past Luis Lopez.
Honduras tried to get back into the match after halftime, but could not muster any sort of comeback against El Tri. Alfredo Talavera made two saves to preserve the clean sheet and send Mexico on its way into the semifinals.
Qatar 3, El Salvador 2
Almoez Ali 2′, 56′, Abdelaziz Hatim 8′) – (Joqauin Rivas 63′, 66′)
Billy Hardiman-USA TODAY Sports
Qatar raced out to a three goal lead against El Salvador, but eventually had to defend the rest of the way in a 3-2 quarterfinal victory.
🎥 Highlights: 🇶🇦 Qatar books their ticket to the #GoldCup21 semifinals with a 3-2 victory over 🇸🇻 El Salvador in Arizona. #ThisIsOurs pic.twitter.com/4rePfib2GB
— Gold Cup (@GoldCup) July 25, 2021
It was a fast start for Qatar, who scored two goals in the opening eight minutes through two of its top player. Almoez Ali needed only two minutes to break the deadlock between the two national teams before Abdelaziz Hatim added to Qatar’s lead in the eighth.
Both goals were scored by right-footed efforts, giving Qatar an early lead to sit on.
Ali extended Qatar’s advantage to 3-0 in the 55th minute after Darwin Ceren was whistled for hand ball. VAR ruled in favor of the spot kick, allowing Ali the chance to score his second goal of the match.
Joaquin Rivas started a comeback for El Salvador in the 63rd minute, receiving a through ball pass from Amando Moreno and slotting home down the middle of Meshaal Barsham’s goal.
Rivas scored his second goal in a three minute span, this time sending a pass from Bryan Tamacas into the high center of the goal.
However, that was the closest that El Salvador would get to a comeback, watching Qatar advance.
