FORT-DE-FRANCE — El Salvador needed only one clean break to quiet a packed Stade Pierre-Aliker. Styven Vásquez won possession on the counter, sprinted at the retreating defense and slid a pass into the path of Jefferson Valladares, who struck it hard and low into the net. The visitors led, and the home crowd, loud until that moment, went quiet.
It is the final matchday of Group B in the CONCACAF Nations League, and the stakes are painfully simple. Martinique and El Salvador both sit on three points, both at risk of sliding into the relegation places. Suriname leads the group with seven points and two wins, Jamaica follows on six, Guatemala has four, and then comes the cluster — Honduras, Martinique and El Salvador, all level on three. The top two teams move on to the League A quarterfinals. The bottom two drop to League B.
Martinique arrived with something it had not felt all campaign: momentum. On Friday, the side fell behind Honduras inside the first 10 minutes, then answered through Jonathan Varane and Jonathan Mexique for a 2-1 comeback win. It was the team’s only victory of the Nations League run, and it kept the quarterfinal race alive, though Martinique still needs results elsewhere to go its way.
The road here was not kind. El Salvador beat Martinique 3-1 in the opening game of the group stage, with Brayan Gil scoring twice and Harold Osorio adding the third. Janis Antiste found the net for Martinique that night, but it was not close to enough. October brought a 2-1 loss to Suriname, Boris Sebastian Moltenis scoring in defeat, and then Friday’s recovery against Honduras.
El Salvador’s month has been harsher. After that opening 3-1 win, Hernan Gomez watched his team routed 6-0 by Guatemala, then shut out for a second straight match in a 2-0 loss to Jamaica. Three points, two heavy defeats, and a must-get-result trip to Fort-de-France.
So far, the visitors have done the one thing that matters. After Valladares scored, Martinique pushed forward and found chances but not the finishing touch. Ludovic Blas met a curling delivery and sent a powerful header wide of the target. Moments later, Blas again swung a dangerous ball into the danger zone and Antiste connected with a header that was saved just in time. Joris Moutachy delivered with real intensity from the right. Kévin Appin worked a cross toward Varane, whose effort drifted slightly off target.
It has been a scrappy, foul-heavy contest. Rafael Tejada tried to play out from the back and was dispossessed by Appin, who won the ball cleanly and started another attack. Mauricio Cerritos went looking for possession and instead conceded a foul, stopping play. Neither side has managed to string together a sequence that produces a genuine chance since the early goal.
Martinique’s starting eleven features Yannis Clementia in goal, with Florent Poulolo, Harold Voyer, Jonathan Rivierez, Patrick Burner, Thomas Ephestion, Appin, Cyril Mandouki, Karl Fabien, Mickaël Biron and Brighton Labeau. El Salvador, ranked in the top eight of CONCACAF and inside the top 80 of FIFA, is expected to keep pressing on the break. Martinique sits 12th in the CONCACAF rankings and is not affiliated with FIFA, yet has the home ground and the crowd.
The match kicked off Monday, October 5, 2026, at Stade Pierre-Aliker in Fort-de-France. Television coverage in the United States is on FOX Sports 2, with streaming available through Fubo, ViX and FOX One. Listings have shown a 5:50 p.m. ET start and a 6:00 p.m. ET kickoff, with regional restrictions possibly applying. In six previous official meetings between the two sides, El Salvador has won three, Martinique two, with one draw.
