The USA has a chance to advance to the knockout stage of the Copa America this Thursday when they take on Panama at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
In their first match, the tournament hosts easily defeated Bolivia 2-0, while Panama suffered a 3-1 loss to Uruguay. Panama held on for over 80 minutes in their opener before conceding two late goals and stoppage-time, marking their second consecutive defeat this year under coach Thomas Christiansen, who has never lost three in a row since taking over in 2020.
Following two losses in the 2023-24 CONCACAF Nations League, Panama bounced back with consecutive wins in World Cup qualifiers this month, scoring a total of 5 goals while conceding just 1.
A loss combined with a Uruguay win over Bolivia would eliminate Panama from the competition, which they are participating in for the second time.
Panama has won two of their last three meetings with the USA, including a recent victory on penalties in the 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup semi-finals in front of over 47,000 fans.
In their previous encounter, the USA dominated Bolivia in the first half, scoring twice early and keeping Bolivia without a single touch in their attacking box.
Gregg Berhalter's team has been strong in the group stages of recent tournaments, recording their third straight win without conceding a goal.
Since the Copa America adopted its current hosting format in 1987, every host nation has advanced from the group stage, and a USA win coupled with a result from Uruguay would maintain that trend.
The USA's only loss to Panama on home soil came in 2011, during the group phase of the Gold Cup, where they were defeated 2-1 at MetLife Stadium.
INJURIES & SUSPENSION
Over the weekend, Panama introduced three new players to their starting lineup who hadn't featured in their previous friendly against Paraguay: Edgardo Farina, Jose Luis Rodriguez, and Adalberto Carrasquilla.Carrasquilla, who plays for the Houston Dynamo, is one of three players on the team currently representing American clubs, alongside Omar Valencia (New York Red Bulls II) and Carlos Harvey (Minnesota United).
In their match against Uruguay, Michael Murillo scored the only goal for Panama, marking his eighth goal for the national team as a Marseille defender.
The average age of the USA's starting lineup in their first match was 25 years and 339 days, with Joe Scally, aged 21, as the youngest player, and Tim Ream, at 36 years and 261 days, as the oldest American player in the tournament.
Tyler Adams returned to the starting lineup for the first time since the Nations League final victory over Mexico in March, while Giovanni Reyna has started four consecutive matches for the USA.
Folarin Balogun scored his fourth goal for the national team, and Christian Pulisic joined Eric Wynalda and Clint Dempsey as the third American player to score in five different competitions.
POSSIBLE LINE-UPS
Panama possible starting lineup:Mosquera; Murillo, Farina, Cordoba, Miller, Davis; Rodriguez, Welch, Carrasquilla, Barcenas; Fajardo
USA possible starting lineup:
Turner; Scally, Ream, Richards, A. Robinson; Reyna, Musah, McKennie; Weah, Balogun, Pulisic
EXPERT PREDICTIONS
Panama 0-3 USA
Panama has shown they can hold their own against the best teams in CONCACAF, but we think they'll struggle to keep up with the youthful energy and intensity of the Americans throughout the full 90 minutes.
