Qatar 2022
For the first time in the 2018 World Cup, Panama could not clinch its place in the CONCACAF qualifiers. Here is Panama’s journey towards a last-minute default for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Panama Not regularly among the best teams in CONCACAF. However, Canaleros have proven that they can qualify for world Cupwhen they did it for the 2018 World Cup, however, the story was not good for them this time as they tried and failed a bit before they could head to the World Cup 2022.
Thanks to the golden generation of Panama, their national team could dream of participating in the World Cup for the second time in a row. However, these players were old enough to leave the national team shortly after their participation. In fact, Felipe Baloy, who scored the first goal for Panama in a World Cup, is among the second oldest player to score a goal in a World Championship ever. This pretty much sums up the entire generation.
So, in the middle of the transition between their golden generation and the new players coming, Panama They had to define their quest to get World Cup 2022. Their search began in 2021, because they were not among the top five national teams in CONCACAF FIFA ranking.
Why did Panama not qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar?
The World Cup qualifiers For teams other than the top five in CONCACAF Started in 2021, where Panama finished up group dagainst the Dominican Republic, Barbados, Dominica, and Anguilla. After this first round, Panama had a home and away match against Curaçao. These first two rounds were qualifying for the third round, also known as Eight ribsbecause it is made up of the eight best teams in the region.
Once Panama started playing Octogonal, the situation became real for Canaleros. The first match against Costa Rica finished as 0-0 tie. then against Jamaicathe game ended as a 3-0 win. Their third match was 0-0 against Mexico at home, with 5 points, Panama trusted their new generation, but it was just the start of the playoffs.
After two losses, three wins in the following Five matchesAnd the Panama There are still chances to qualify for the 2022 World Cup. It was a matter of consistency in return matches. However, Canaleros lost 11 points the next day Five matches. So in the last match, they needed a massive blast against them CanadaTo grab the place of reclassification, plus a bunch of other results. but, Costa rica Ended up with the last place for CONCACAF.
