CONCACAF Nations League Third-Place Game: Panama vs Mexico
Panama and Mexico Fight for Bronze
Both Sides Shut Out in Semis
Both Panama and Mexico fell in Thursday night’s CONCACAF Nations League semifinals matches. Now, the two sides will face off in the CONCACAF Nations League Third-Place game on Sunday evening. The two sides are frequent opponents and will look to bounce back from shutout losses. While Mexico were runners-up last time around, Panama can take home Nations League silverware for the first time with a win. With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at the match.
CONCACAF Nations League Third-Place
Panama vs Mexico
Date, time:
Location: Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, USA
Head-to-Head
Mexico have dominated this fixture in recent times. In recent CONCACAF qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, El Tri picked up a 1-0 win at home and drew 1-1 at Panama. In fact, Mexico have won five of the last six meetings and are unbeaten in the last 12 matches between the sides. Panama’s last win in this fixture came in the semifinal of the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Panama Fail to Find Breakthrough
- Semifinal Result: 0-2 L vs. Canada
- Key Absences: D Eric Davis (Suspended), M Jose Luis Rodriguez (Injured)
Panama fell 2-0 to Canada in the first semifinal on Thursday. A cautious Canada took the lead in the 25th minute, from a Jonathan David goal. Defender Kamal Miller played a perfectly-weighted through ball for David and the Lille man slipped the ball through Panama keeper Orlando Mosquera’s legs. Panama had one of their best chances a few minutes later, when Fidel Escobar rocketed a free kick towards goal. Milan Borjan parried it out but a Panama player couldn’t get on the end of the rebound.
Bayern Munich’s Alphonso Davies doubled Canada’s lead in the second half and Panama couldn’t find a breakthrough. Just before the end of the match, Panama defender Eric Davis earned himself a red card and won’t be available on Sunday. Now, Panama are in their first CONCACAF Nations League Third-Place game vs. a familiar foe.
No matter what happens on Sunday, this Nations League campaign can be considered a success for Panama. In the 2019-20 edition, they went just 1-3 with a -4 goal difference. They conceded their first goals of the 2022-23 Nations League on Thursday. Panama put together more passes and also had more shots on target than Canada.
Mexico Draw Blank vs USA
- Semifinal Result: 0-3 L vs. USA
- Key Absences: D Cesar Montes (Suspended), D Gerardo Arteaga, F Raul Jimenez (Injured), F Hirving Lozano (Injured)
Mexico’s performance vs. the USA on Thursday was nothing short of embarrassing. El Tri suffered their worst competitive CONCACAF loss for nearly 50 years as they fell 3-0. After missing what amounted to an open goal, Christian Pulisic redeemed himself with a 37th minute goal. The USA’s active-leading scorer doubled the USMNT’s lead not even a minute into the second half.
El Tri failed to find a solid foothold in the game. The USA had the better passing combinations and found no problems breaking down the Mexican backline. Mexico’s frustration came out as defender Cesar Montes picked up a red card for chopping Folarin Balogun’s legs. In the ensuing fight, the USA’s Weston McKennie also got sent off. Ricardo Pepi added a third goal for the USA in the 78th minute and another spat saw Mexico’s Gerardo Arteaga and USA’s Sergino Dest dismissed.
The match was eventually halted in the middle of stoppage due to supposed homophobic chants from the Mexican crowd. It was a disastrous night for Mexico no matter which way one looks at it. They’ll be missing both Montes and Arteaga for the final and lacked an offensive spark on Thursday. Mexico did finish first in the Group A CONCACAF Nations League standings but the last couple of years have been rough for El Tri. They’ve now gone six matches without a win vs. the USA.
Match Analysis and Odds
After frustrating performances by both Panama and Mexico on Thursday, the odds price El Tri as one-goal favorites for the match. In the 2019-20 Nations League, Mexico and Panama were in the same group. Mexico won both matches by a two-or-more goal margin and have dominated Panama recently. Over the last 12 meetings, Mexico have outscored Panama 19-4. Mexico come in at +110 odds to cover the spread here. Meanwhile, Panama +1 sits at -140 odds and Los Canaleros are +450 underdogs.
In this CONCACAF Nations League Third-Place game, Mexico are also -165 moneyline favorites. Still, they’ve won just one of their last five international matches and will be missing two starters come Sunday. Punters can also take a draw at +280 odds here. Six of the last ten meetings between the sides have finished with two goals or fewer. With both teams failing to score on Thursday, under 2.5 goals display -140 odds for the bronze medal game.
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