Curaçao, Panama kick off League A Quarterfinals action

League A Quarterfinals to start in Willemstad.

MIAMI – League A action in the 2026/2027 Concacaf Nations League continues on Thursday, with Curaçao facing Panama in the First Leg of their Quarterfinals series at Stadion Ergilio Hato in Willemstad, Curaçao.

Curaçao will make its first appearance in the Quarterfinals stage after finishing first in Group A with an unbeaten 3W-1D-0L record.

The Blue Wave first completed a thrilling 4-3 comeback win on the road against Costa Rica, followed by 6-1 and 1-nil home victories over Nicaragua and Trinidad and Tobago respectively, before closing out with a 1-1 draw on the road.

Key players for Curaçao will be Kenji Gorre, who leads the Caribbean attack with four goals in the tournament, and Juninho Bacuna, who contributed two goals and three assists.

Panama will make its debut this 2026/2027 edition of the competition after securing a direct spot in the Quarterfinals as one of the four pre-seeded teams in League A.

Los Canaleros saw a 1-1 draw against India, a 1-1 draw against New Zealand before falling 5-3 in penalties and drawing 1-1 with Ecuador before winning 7-6 in penalties in the September-October FIFA window.

Established leaders such as defender Amir Murillo, midfield stalwart Adalberto Carrasquilla, and attacker Ismael Díaz are now joining forces with promising rising stars like attackers Kadir Barría and Josué Vergara.

All-Time Series

Panama leads the all-time head-to-head series GP-7 W-2 D-4 L-1 GF-12 GA-11.

*Including the Netherlands Antilles as part of Curaçao's history.

*The all-time head-to-head series between Panama and Curaçao is tied GP-12 W-4 D-4 L-4 GF-26 GA-25.

Concacaf Nations League Head-to-Head Series: Panama won the only previous meeting 2-1, with goals from Yoel Barcelas and José Rodríguez. Rangelo Janga scored for Curaçao in Group A on October 13, 2023, at Stadion Ergilio Hato in Willemstad.

Concacaf Gold Cup Head-to-Head Series: The teams have never faced each other.

Pre Match-Stats

• Curaçao enter these Concacaf Nations League 2026-27 quarter-finals as the team with the second-most 10+ pass sequences in League A (52), with only Honduras having more (61).
• Curaçao had the lowest average goal-kick distance in the 2026-27 Concacaf Nations League A, with an average of 23.9 metres for their restarts from goal in the competition.
• Curaçao's Kenji Gorré has been involved in six goal-ending sequences in the Concacaf Nations League, the most of any player for his team, despite being second for shot-ending sequence involvements (26).
• Panama are looking to qualify for the Concacaf Nations League semi-finals for the fourth consecutive edition. In the most recent 2024-25 season, they recorded their best performance in the competition to date, finishing as runners-up.
• Panama have had at least 50% shot accuracy in two of their last three Concacaf Nations League matches (50% against Mexico and 56% against Costa Rica), as many times as they managed in their previous 16 games in the competition.