The 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup final is set as Panama and Mexico prepare to face off on Sunday, July 16. After the Panamanian side pulled off an upset in a penalty shootout to send the United States home in the semifinal, they advance to the Gold Cup final for just the third time in their history. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on Sunday evening from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
Let’s take a closer look at Sunday’s match, with odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.
Mexico vs. Panama
Date: Sunday, July 16
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
TV channel: FOX
Live stream: FOX Sports app, fuboTV
Odds, picks & predictions
Mexico: -160
Draw: +270
Panama: +500
Moneyline pick: Mexico -160
Mexico is no stranger to the Gold Cup final having made the trip a total of 11 times, winning the title in eight of those matches to become the most successful team in Gold Cup history. The Americans were poised to knot it up with them as they hoped to win their eighth title this year, but Panama had other plans as they defeated the USMNT in a penalty shootout, sending the defending champions out of the tournament in the semifinal round.
El Tri handled business in their semifinal matchup, logging a 3-0 win over Jamaica. It took Mexico less than two minutes to open the scoring as Henry Martin got things started off early, followed by a 30th-minute goal from Luis Chavez. Roberto Alvarado iced the match in stoppage time with a third goal, helping send his side to the Gold Cup final for a 12th time. Mexico outshot the Reggae Boyz 13-8 overall and 5-3 on target while controlling 55% of possession throughout the contest.
It took Panama nearly 99 minutes to break the deadlock between themselves and the United States as Ivan Anderson found the back of the net first for Los Canaleros. Jesus Ferreira struck back just six minutes later for the Americans, but Panama would prevail in a penalty shootout, successfully completing their upset of the Americans.
Panama will have their work cut out for them as they haven’t been able to log a win over Mexico in any competition in 10 years, since they knocked El Tri out of the Gold Cup semifinals in 2013. Since then, Mexico has gone 9-0-2 against Los Canaleros, with their most recent meeting ending in a 1-0 win for El Tri in the Nations League third place match.
While it’s set to be an exciting final, Mexico has been playing extremely well recently, especially since their 3-0 loss to the USA in the Nations League semifinals. They’ve only lost one match since then, coming in their final game of the Gold Cup group stage that resulted in a 1-0 loss to Qatar although they had already booked a spot in the knockout rounds. Four different players are tied on two goals for El Tri throughout the Gold Cup this time around as they’ve been playing some well-executed team soccer through the tournament. I’m backing Mexico to come out on top over Panama at SoFi Stadium.