MIAMI, Florida – Both Panama and Canada fell to 2-0 defeats in their opening matches of the 2023 FIFA Under-17 Men’s World Cup on Friday in Indonesia.

Panama suffered a 2-0 defeat to Morocco at the Gelora Bung Tomo Stadium in Surabaya to kick off their campaign in Group A.

Saifdine Chlaghmo opened the scoring for Morocco in the 16’ with a header, but Panama looked to respond back and had a pair of golden scoring chances early in the second half through Oldemar Castillo and Martin Krug, but neither were able to convert from inside the area.

Morocco then added an insurance goal in the final minutes of second half stoppage time through Ayman Ennair to complete the 2-0 scoreline.

The other Concacaf nation in action on the day was Canada, who succumbed 2-0 to Spain in Group B play at the Manahan Stadium in Surakarta.

Spain jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 20’ courtesy of a well-placed header from Marc Guiu. Canda’s comeback task then got a lot more difficult in the 38’ when Alessandro Biello was sent off, leaving Canada with 10 men.

Canada held firm going into the second half and stayed within a goal thanks to the play of GK Nathaniel Abraham, but ultimately the Spanish pressure resulted in a second goal, with Quim Junyent’s finish inside the area for the 2-0 final.