Salvadoran Americans bring World Cup soccer hopes to El Salvador as it faces Canada

https://www.npr.org/2022/02/02/ [login to see] /2022-world-cup-qualifying-us-soccer-players-el-salvador-canada
No one is kidding themselves about what a long shot it is for the scrappy soccer team from this tiny Central American country to qualify for the World Cup tournament in Qatar this year. But hey, one can hope.

Wednesday night's game in San Salvador, pitting La Selecta, as the men's national soccer team is known, against Canada is a make-or-break match.

"We are chasing the fourth-place spot," El Salvador's new head coach, Hugo Pérez, tells NPR in an interview at the soccer league's federation headquarters. "We can't afford to lose another game or mathematically we are out."

On Wednesday, there were sudden doubts about whether the game would happen. El Salvador players reportedly staged a short-lived protest over pay and resources — threatening to refuse to play. But later in the day, players and soccer league officials said the game against Canada was still on.

It's an important match for the two squads. The top three teams, out of eight battling in this part of the world for a trip to Qatar, qualify automatically. The fourth-place team must compete later for a wild-card spot.