MIAMI. - The United States continues its defense of its Concacaf Gold Cup title, while Panama seeks to get into the final for the first time since 2013 when the teams meet on Wednesday night in the 2023 Gold Cup semifinals at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, California.
It renews the most played match in the history of the Gold Cup, with the two nations set to meet for a record 12th time in the tournament and the second time in a semifinal. On that other occasion, in 2011, the U.S. emerged with a 1-0 win thanks to a Clint Dempsey goal in Houston, Texas.
This is also the first time the teams have met in an elimination match at the Gold Cup since that 2013 final, when Brek Shea’s 69th-minute goal gave the North Americans a victory at Chicago’s Soldier Field and allowed them to lift the trophy. The teams also met two years later in the third-place game of the 2015 Gold Cup, with Panama topping the U.S. in a penalty shootout.
The U.S. needed a penalty shootout on Sunday to get into this week’s semifinal contest. GK Matt Turner saved the first two kicks and helped the U.S. get past Canada, 3-2, after the match finished 1-1 after 90 minutes and 2-2 after extra time. Turner became the first U.S. GK to save two penalties in a Gold Cup quarterfinal.
Also of note was FW Brandon Vazquez scoring his third goal as a substitute, the most ever in a single Gold Cup by a U.S. player.
Panama, meanwhile, saw FW Ismael Diaz explode for a 10-minute hat trick that helped the Central Americans top AFC guest team Qatar 4-0 in their quarterfinal on Saturday. That helped Panama secure the victory after MF Edgar Yoel Barcenas had opened the scoring in the 19th minute.
The U.S. and Panama are no strangers to pressure-packed semifinals, having each won their Leagues in Concacaf Nations League and qualified for the Final Four. The U.S. won the competition, while Panama finished fourth.
The winner moves into the Final at SoFi Stadium on July 16 to face the winner of the Mexico-Jamaica semifinal in Las Vegas.
