Panama’s QF feat, Canada’s debut headline top moments | OneFootball

MIAMI, Florida – The group stage of CONMEBOL Copa America 2024 reached its conclusion on Tuesday night for the six teams representing the Concacaf region. Here is a look back at the best moments from Concacaf teams over the last two weeks of matches.

Panama reach quarterfinals for first time

In just their second ever Copa America participation, Panama reached new heights in qualifying for the knockout round. After an opening 3-1 defeat to Uruguay, the Canaleros rebounded in excellent fashion with victories against hosts United States, 2-1, and Bolivia, 3-1. Panama became just the third Central American team to advance beyond the group stage in a Copa America, following in the footsteps of Costa Rica in 2001 and 2004 and Honduras in 2001. Among the notable individual performances from head coach Thomas Christiansen’s men was FW Jose Fajardo, who scored the crucial winning goal against the U.S. and then tallied the opening score versus Bolivia.

Canaleros match group stage goal mark

Panama also matched several marks in their successful Group C campaign. The Central American side tied Costa Rica (2001) and Mexico (2016) as the Concacaf teams with the most goals scored in the group stage with six. Panama also became the fourth Concacaf team to achieve a six-point haul in a Copa America group stage. The U.S. did it twice, in 1995 and 2016, while Mexico in 1999 and Honduras in 2001 also achieved that feat. Christiansen also made history by becoming the first European coach to qualify a Central American team for the Copa America quarterfinals.

Canada debut in style

Copa America 2024 saw Canada participate in the tournament for the first time, and they certainly impressed by advancing to the knockout round. Canada became just the third Concacaf team to advance past the group stage in their Copa America debut, equaling the accomplishments of the 1993 Mexico and 2001 Honduras teams. Canada also matched the 2001 Honduras team to claim their first Copa America win in their second ever match in the tournament. The 1-0 victory for Canada against Peru was the 35th win for a Concacaf team in the Copa America.

Canada’s David etches name into history

Canada FW Jonathan David not only further wrote his name into the Canada Soccer history books, but also the Copa America’s as well after scoring his nation’s first ever goal in the tournament in the 1-0 win versus Peru. Jacob Shaffelburg provided the assist on the historic and game-winning strike, making it the 88th goal from a North American team in Copa America history.

Costa Rica keep it clean against Brazil

Despite their elimination, Costa Rica did make their own history along the way in the group stage by becoming the third Concacaf team to keep a clean sheet against Brazil in the Copa America. Mexico limited the five-time World Cup champions in 2001 and again in 2007, while Honduras also kept the Selecao off the scoreboard in 2001. The Ticos’ clean sheet was registered by GK Patrick Sequeira, who became the youngest Costa Rican goalkeeper to maintain a clean sheet in his Copa America debut. He is also just the third Tico to record a Copa America clean sheet, joining Ricardo Gonzalez against Bolivia in 2001 and Patrick Pemberton versus Paraguay in 2016.