Bolivia
Panama
With a victory, Panama will put themselves in a great position to advance to the quarter-finals, as long as USA do not beat Uruguay. We expect them to do so against a Bolivia side who are all but eliminated having lost both games so far.
Bolivia have struggled mightily in front of goal, therefore we expect Panama to keep their first clean sheet of the tournament. It will be a tight game, considering what is at stake for Panama, and one goal could be enough to take victory - Bolivia 0-1 Panama
Panama take on Bolivia in the final group stage game with an opportunity to advance to the quarter-finals of Copa America.
Date: 02/07/24
Kick-off time: 02:00
Venue: Inter & Co Stadium
After a huge upset 2-1 win against tournament hosts USA, Panama have put themselves in a position to progress to the knockout stages of the competition. If they are to go through, they will need to beat Bolivia and hope that USA fail to win against Uruguay. They faced their toughest test in Uruguay in the opener, in which they fell to a 3-1 defeat. However, they recovered excellently to provide one of the biggest shocks of Copa America so far. This is just their second appearance at the tournament, with their first ending in a group stage exit in 2016.
They will be facing a Bolivia team who have yet to pick up a single point following two losses. Firstly against USA, as they were comfortably beaten 2-0, before they were crushed by Uruguay 5-0. As a result, they have been all but eliminated from the tournament. It continues a torrid run of form which has seen them win just twice in 16 games. They have won Copa America once before in 1963, but have not moved past the group stages on the last three occasions, a run that is likely to continue this summer.
Going forward, Panama will hope to have plenty of success, as they are coming up against a defence who have allowed 14 goals in their last five games. Whilst they are inconsistent in front of goal, they will be confident in testing the Bolivian backline. They have scored three goals in the competition so far, though none have come from winger Jose Rodriguez. He missed the game against USA through injury and if fit he will provide a big boost for the Panama attack.
Defensively, Panama have kept just one clean sheet in their last five, though face a Bolivian attack who are desperately out of form in front of goal. They have yet to score in the competition, and going back further, they have netted just once in six games. They have tried different combinations of attackers in both games, but have not been able to click offensively.
There have been just eight meetings between these two sides in the past. There is not much to split the pair, as Panama have won five to Bolivia’s three. They met once before in Copa America, this coming in 2016, in which Panama came out on top as 2-1 winners in the group stages. Blas Perez scored a brace either side of an equaliser, including a late 87th minute winner. The latest game was an international friendly last August, which again Panama won 2-1. They are currently on a four-game winning streak against Bolivia, a run they will be confident in extending to five.
Bolivia vs Panama will be available to watch on Premier Sports 2.
Bolivia
Bolivia have no new injury concerns heading into this game. However, with their elimination all but confirmed, they may look to give other players some playing time.
Panama
Jose Rodriguez was missing from the last game through injury, but could return for this game. Adalberto Carrasquilla will be absent through suspension after receiving a red card late on against USA. Otherwise, they should have a fully fit squad to choose from.
Bolivia
In their last five games, Bolivia have lost all of them. It has been a dreadful stretch of form for Bolivia both prior to Copa America and to start. They faced a tough test in their opener against tournament hosts USA. They were comfortably beaten 2-0 and suffered a very early setback, conceding in the third minute to an excellent Christian Pulisic goal. Folarin Balogun doubled their lead on the stroke of half-time, and despite USA’s dominance, Bolivia were able to limit the damage to just two. It did not get any easier in their second game as they took on Uruguay. They lost 5-0 with Facundo Pellistri, Darwin Nunez, Maximiliano Araujo, Federico Valverde and Rodrigo Bentancur all on the scoresheet.
Preparations for the competition ended with three defeats in a row, the latest being a 3-0 loss against Colombia. Three goals from Jhon Arias, Jhon Cordoba and Luis Diaz put the game to bed before half-time, though things got fiery when Daniel Munoz and Cesar Menacho were both sent off. This followed a 3-1 defeat against Ecuador. Again, they fell behind 3-0, but managed to pull one back late on through Miguel Terceros.
The first game of this stretch was a narrow 1-0 loss against Mexico. Bolivia actually enjoyed more possession, but only recorded one shot on target. Their opponents took advantage of one of their opportunities shortly into the second half when Efrain Alvarez found the back of the net.
Panama
In their last five games, Panama have won three and lost two. Heading into the tournament, Panama were in mixed form, but began their Copa America journey with a 3-1 loss against Uruguay. It was a tough test for the side in which they fell behind to a Maximiliano Araujo opener after 16 minutes. Despite their dominance, Uruguay did not extend their lead until the 85th minute when Darwin Nunez scored. They added a third before Michael Amir Murillo pulled one back deep into stoppage time.
Another difficult opponent followed in tournament hosts USA. However, they pulled off a shock victory, winning 2-1. USA went down to 10 men after Timothy Weah was sent off for violent conduct, but Folarin Balogun scored minutes later to put them ahead. Panama were not behind for long though as Cesar Blackman equalised before Jose Fajardo scored the winning goal late on.
They came into the competition on the back of a 1-0 loss to Paraguay. There was not much to split the pair, but Gustavo Velazquez’s 25th minute goal proved to be the difference. This followed two consecutive wins in World Cup qualifying. The first of these was a 2-0 victory over Guyana. Two goals in three second half minutes from Cristian Martinez and Jose Rodriguez secured the three points. They then faced Montserrat, beating them 3-1. They took the lead through Jovani Welch, but were pegged back just after the restart. Jose Fajardo restored their lead before Rodriguez put the game to bed.
Copa America - Group C | Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | GD | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Uruguay | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | +8 | 9 | |
| 2 |  Panama | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 6 | |
| 3 |  United States | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | |
| 4 |  Bolivia | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -9 | 0 | |
| Last updated 22/11/2024 | ||||||||
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