Guatemala Beats Costa Rica for Seventh Place

MORELOS, Mexico, August 15, 2026.- Guatemala finished seventh at the 2026 Men’s Pan American Cup after defeating Costa Rica 3-1 (26-24, 23-25, 25-20, 25-22) in the Central American matchup played Saturday at Poliforum 2 of the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos (UAEM).

Guatemala closed its participation with a 4-2 record, while Costa Rica finished 2-4.

Guatemala took a tight first set 26-24 before Costa Rica evened the match by winning the second 25-23. The Guatemalans regained control with a 25-20 win in the third and closed out a hard-fought fourth set 25-22 to secure seventh place.

Guatemala held advantages of 7-3 in blocks and 3-2 in serves, while also committing fewer errors, 25 to 38. Both teams produced 56 points on attacks.

Andy Leonardo Blanco led Guatemala with 16 points, while Carlos López and José Pablo Pérez contributed 15 points each.

Gilberth Solano was Costa Rica’s leading scorer with 22 points, followed by Ignacio Morales with 16. Jeremy Vanega and Jhostin Varela added 10 points each.

“Costa Rica has a good group, and we knew it wasn’t going to be an easy match; it was very competitive. We had a very good competition, earning four wins and two losses, one of them against Cuba in a great five-set match. We are happy with a seventh-place finish in a competition that has been very strong,” said Guatemala’s head coach Reider Lucas.

“The goal in bringing a very young team was to compete because we knew we would face very strong teams, and I think we achieved that objective: to compete and give these young players experience. We played some good matches,” said Costa Rica’s head coach Jorge Solano.