Puerto Rico, Panama aiming for strong finish in Group B

SAN DIEGO, California – A thrilling Group B comes to an end for their last matchday on Tuesday at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, California, everything on the table for the teams to keep writing history in the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup.

Colombia vs. Puerto Rico

This is the first time these teams will face each other in an official senior competition, although both teams know what it's like to face each other’s confederations. Colombia has had friendly matches against the United States, Panama, Costa Rica and Mexico. Puerto Rico faced Brazil in their first game in Group B.

With the eyes of the whole football world on them, Puerto Rico has been writing new history since the Prelims, downing 2023 Women’s World Cup participants Haiti. They did it again in their previous match, when they turned things around in the final minutes to get their first win against Panama, 2-1.

POTM Danielle Julia Marcano scored the winning goal in second half stoppage time, finishing the night with three shots. The comeback wouldn’t have been posible either without DF Madison Cox, who scored the first goal.

Colombia arrives into this game after a 1-0 loss to CONMEBOL counterpart Brazil, in which they were unable to get the ball into the back of the net. They won their first match of the Group Stage against Panama.

DF Manuela Vanegas has been key to going forward, with 91 accurate passes in two games. GK Natalia Giraldo has also been very present, having four saves and a clean sheet.

Brazil vs. Panama

With two clean sheet wins against Puerto Rico and Colombia, Brazil is the first team of Group B to qualify for the quarterfinals, joining the United States as the only teams so far that have done it after two games.

These two teams are old friends, as they have faced each other before, the most recent encounter happening at the 2023 Women’s World Cup, in which they also shared the same Group. The Selecao came out on top with a 4-0 victory.

Brazil’s two last victories were a result of resilience and strength on the pitch, with many players stepping up to get to the next round. FW Duda Santos, named the POTM against Colombia, gave Brazil the win with her goal. MF Yasmin was in charge of getting as many balls as possible to her offensive line, having 88% passing accuracy, dominating her area.

Panama is still searching for its first point, but is not short on goals, with FW and Captain Natalia Mills finding the back of the net for the first time in the tournament against Puerto Rico after a great counterattack.

DF Carina Baltrip also went above and beyond her position, assisting on the only goal of Panama so far.