Qatar vs Panama

Qatar and Panama will launch their 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup campaign at the BBVA Compass Stadium in the first-ever meeting between the sides.

Warming up for the tournament, Qatar have racked up four consecutive victories, including friendlies, prevailing by the identical 1-0 scoreline on three occasions. The reigning Asian Cup champions have been outstanding this calendar year, avoiding defeat in all seven matches since the calendar flipped to 2021 (W6, D1), though five of those six wins came by a narrow one-goal margin. Even if they concede first, Qatar should have enough character to bounce back, having won two of the last three matches in which they fell behind (D1). Meanwhile, the ‘Crimsons’ have been almost impossible to beat after taking the lead, last going down after breaking the deadlock in the Gulf Cup of Nations 2-1 defeat to Iraq in December 2017. Additionally, they are unbeaten in their last two encounters against CONCACAF nations (W1, D1), with both of them featuring under 2.5 total goals.

On the other hand, Panama have been on a downward spiral ahead of the tournament, going from five straight victories to back-to-back games without scoring (D1, L1), losing 3-0 to Mexico in a friendly meeting last time out. However, ‘Los Canaleros’ are unbeaten in their previous six competitive matches (W5, D1), returning an eye-catching +19 goal difference from that spread of fixtures (GF:21, GA:2). Particularly dangerous beyond half-time, Thomas Christiansen’s men have registered a clear majority (71.43%) of their last 21 competitive goals in the second half of play. Interestingly, only one of Panama’s previous eight Gold Cup games have ended level (W4, L3), with five of the seven matches won/lost in that time seeing the winner on the day keep a clean sheet.