Panama vs United States 27/06/19

27 June 2019

The two nations that have already booked tickets for the Gold Cup knockout stage will go face-to-face when Panama meet the United States at the Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City at midweek.

Julio Dely Valdés’ men have started the tournament off on the right foot, securing back-to-back wins over Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana, beating both rivals by a comfortable two-goal margin. However, Los Canaleros have endured a dreadful period before their participation in the Gold Cup, having struggled to pick up a victory in ten friendlies after exiting the World Cup (D3, L7). Another frustrating fact for Panama is that they’ve failed to find the net in seven of those matches while conceding over 1.5 match goals on seven occasions too.

Meanwhile, the host nation has been exceptional at the beginning of the tournament, having pulled off two wins by an impressive +10 goal difference (S10, C0). An encouraging start to the Gold Cup has come just after the Stars and Stripes struggled to secure a triumph in three straight matches (D1, L2), scoring barely one goal while conceding five across those games. The USMNT will now look to stretch their unbeaten run against Panama to five games (W2, D2), with both of their previous triumphs in H2Hs seeing Gregg Berhalter’s men beating Panama to nil while netting over 2.5 match goals in each.