The 2023 Gold Cup quarter-finals begin on Saturday as Panama take on Qatar at AT&T Stadium in the second-ever meeting between those two nations.
Los Canaleros finished unbeaten and top of their group, following a 2-2 draw with El Salvador on matchday three, while Qatar sneaked into the last eight thanks to a 1-0 victory in their previous encounter versus Mexico.
Match preview
Thomas Christiansen's men put together another solid performance versus La Selecta on Tuesday, topping their group at the Gold Cup for the first time since 2013.
Saturday will be their first appearance in the last eight of this tournament since 2019, with the Panamanians losing their previous two quarter-final matches in heartbreaking fashion as a late own-goal by Anibal Godoy enabled Costa Rica to earn a 1-0 victory in 2017, while two years later Jamaica beat them by that same score thanks to a Darren Mattocks penalty on 77 minutes.
While they did enough to earn their place in the last eight, La Marea Roja have not looked all that convincing at the tail end of their Gold Cup encounters this year, conceding an injury-time goal in each of their three fixtures.
This team have not lost a quarter-final clash in this competition when scoring first since 2009, with their last victory occurring in 2015, defeating Trinidad and Tobago 6-5 on penalties after the match ended 1-1 in normal time.
Since their 2022 World Cup qualifying hopes were dashed because of a 5-1 defeat versus the United States, the Panamanians have come away with a win or draw in nine successive matches when finding the back of the net.
Their only previous meeting with Qatar was a memorable one as Los Canaleros were behind three times but always had an answer, claiming a 3-3 draw in the group stage of this tournament two years ago.
With their backs against the wall, needing a win and some help, the Maroons came through with a big victory over El Tri, while Honduras came back to defeat Haiti 2-1, propelling the Maroons into second place, ahead of La H on goal difference.
Qatar notched the opening goal against Mexico before the half-hour mark, scoring early in all three of their group fixtures, before surviving a barrage of Mexican attacks, claiming just 23% of the possession when the final whistle blew, while netting on their only targeted effort.
Their opening three fixtures were not nearly as impressive as their 2021 group form, scoring the fewest goals (three) among the eight teams that made the knockout stage this year after netting the most (nine) among all the Gold Cup quarter-finalists two years earlier.
The Maroons have emerged victorious from their last two quarter-final encounters, narrowly defeating South Korea 1-0 in 2019 en route to claiming the Asian Cup, while they nearly blew a three-goal lead versus El Salvador in the last eight of this competition in 2021 but managed to hang on for a 3-2 triumph.
Qatar have scored first in seven of its eight Gold Cup games, going on to lose only one of those encounter, 2-1 versus Haiti at the start of this tournament.
Carlos Queiroz has never lost an international encounter versus Panama, blanking them 3-0 while on the sidelines for Colombia and earning a 2-1 triumph as manager of Iran.
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Team News
Because they were already guaranteed a place in the next round, Christiansen made numerous changes to the Panama squad against El Salvador, with Roderick Miller, Cesar Blackman, Jovani Welch, Cristian Martinez, Ismael Diaz, Freddy Gondola and Cecilio Waterman all featuring in the starting 11.
Diaz and Fidel Escobar found the back of the net for the Panamanian on matchday three, while Eduardo Anderson and Azarias Londono made their first appearances at the 2023 Gold Cup, replacing Yoel Barcenas and Miller in the second half.
Jose Fajardo leads this team with a pair of goals in the opening phase, while a brace from Rolando Blackburn and a penalty converted by Eric Davis enabled them to draw Qatar two years ago.
Queiroz made three changes to Qatar's starting 11 from matchday two to three with Musab Kheder, Hazem Shehata and Abdullah Marafee coming in, while Bassam Al-Rawi, Yusuf Abdurisag and Ali Assadalla began on the bench.
Shehata notched his first goal for the national team with Meshaal Barsham holding down the fort after that, stopping all six Mexican efforts for his first clean sheet of the 2023 tournament.
In their Gold Cup quarter-final clash two years ago, record goalscorer Almoez Ali had a brace, with the other one coming courtesy of Abdulaziz Hatem, enabling them to advance into the final four.
Panama possible starting lineup:
Mosquera; Escobar, Cummings, Andrade; Murillo, Carrasquilla, Godoy, Davis; Barcenas, Diaz; Fajardo
Qatar possible starting lineup:
Barsham; Kheder, Suhail, Salman, Ahmed; Marafee, Waad, Meshaal, Madibo; Al-Abdullah, Abdurisag
We say: Panama 2-1 Qatar (extra-time)
These two experienced sides have shown a lot of resilience so far in this competition, and realistically this match could go either way.
We will give the Panamanians the edge, however, because as a team, they have been a lot sharper going forward, and many of their regulars will be well-rested, which should come in handy the longer this match is deadlocked.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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