Uruguay clashes with Panama in Copa America

Uruguay will begin their 2024 Copa America campaign against Panama in their first group stage match on Sunday, the 23rd of June, in the U.S., where the competition was Friday when reigning champions Argentina defeated Canada 2-0.

Uruguay hasn’t won the competition in ages, and their last two campaigns ended in penalty shootout heartbreak at the quarter-final stage of the previous two Copa Américas.

Their game will happen in Florida, with Le Celeste coming into the game with strong form, losing just two games in their last 14 fixtures with nine wins and keeping five clean sheets in their last six matches. The team played two warm-up matches earlier in June against Mexico and Costa Rica.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side has won all their previous meetings, with Panama winning on all four occasions, including a 5-0 win in their last meeting in 2022. They have also kept three clean sheets in the last three meetings with the Canal Men.

Despite what seems like a decent history of playing each other, Uruguay hasn’t played Panama in a competitive meeting since the 1952 Panamerican. Championship, which Le Celeste won 6-1.

Panama may not have high targets for the competition, but their recent upward climb in the FIFA rankings from 81st in June 2020 to 43rd in 2024 will spur them to aim for a decent result in this tournament. 

Danish manager Thomas Christiansen. has been performing magic since taking the job in July 2020 and even led the side to the final of the 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup, losing narrowly to Mexico.

In Panama’s only Copa America appearance before 2016, they got off to a winning start against Bolivia. Still, they failed to progress from the group after finishing third on the backdrop of defeats against Argentina and Chile. They have been drawn into a group with Bolivia again in this edition, but it looks like another uphill task to finish in the top two, with Uruguay and the USA the clear favorites to advance.