Mexico Improves to 2-0 at Men’s Pan American Cup

MORELOS, Mexico, August 10, 2026.- Mexico improved to 2-0 in Pool B of the 19th Men’s Pan American Cup after defeating Guatemala 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-22) on Monday at Poliforum 2 of the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos (UAEM).

On Tuesday, Mexico will face the Dominican Republic, while Guatemala will look for its first win of the tournament against Curaçao.

Mexico applied pressure from the service line from the start and built a comfortable lead in the first set, winning it 25-15. Guatemala showed greater stability in the next two sets and managed to stay close to the hosts, but Mexico responded at the decisive moments to complete the straight-set victory.

The hosts outperformed the Central American side in attacks 41-29, blocks 9-6 and service points 10-2, with pressure from the service line proving to be one of the decisive factors in the match. Guatemala committed fewer unforced errors, 18 compared to Mexico’s 24.

Diego González led Mexico’s offense with 18 points, followed by Franky Hernández with 12 and Oziel Aguirre with 10. For Guatemala, Carlos López and Andy Blanco scored 10 points each.

Diego González of Mexico: “I think we’re going to find a better rhythm each day. Our serve worked better today, and that helped us a lot, especially in the first set. As a team, we were more structured with our blocking. Tomorrow we go against the Dominican Republic, a team we know very well and that also knows us, we’re happy to face them again. It will be a long and difficult battle; neither team is going to give anything away.”

Carlos López, captain of Guatemala: “Mexico put a lot of pressure on us with its serve. Their strong serving was difficult for us to control in the first set. As the match went on, I think we managed to control it better, but we’re still making too many errors at key moments, and in the end that hurts us when we’re trying to close out sets. Tomorrow against Curaçao, we have to come out with the right attitude. There are no easy opponents in this tournament, and we hope we can get the win.”