Panama Eyes Sweep of Jamaica

CONCACAF World Cup qualifying continues on Sunday as Panama face off against the Reggae Boyz of Jamaica. Both teams are reeling from losses on Thursday and are looking to bounce back.

Fourth-place Panama are even money soccer betting favorites at home and will look to catch up to the trio of Canada, USA and Mexico in the hopes of obtaining an automatic qualification spot.

• Game: Panama vs Jamaica
• Location: Estadio Rommel Fernández, Panama City, Panama
• Date/Time: Sunday, 6:05 p.m. ET

Panama vs Jamaica Betting Preview

Head to Head

Jamaica has historically struggled vs Panama, especially in the last 10 years. Panama lead the series 5-1 since 2012, with one draw. Panama controlled the reverse fixture in Jamaica in September and came away with a 3-0 win.

Panama: Missed Opportunity

Panama had a huge match at Costa Rica on Thursday night in which a win would have put them eight points ahead of Los Ticos. Despite dominating possession, Panama couldn’t find the back of the net and lost 1-0. Los Canaleros still occupy fourth place in CONCACAF qualifying but Costa Rica is now just two points behind them for the intercontinental playoff spot.

With just five matches remaining and difficult matchups vs Mexico, Canada and Team USA looming, Panama desperately needs a win to keep on track for qualification. Los Canaleros have failed to keep a clean sheet for the last four matches and will be hoping for a performance like the one they put on in Jamaica in September.

Forward Cecilio Waterman, Panama’s joint-leading scorer in the third round of qualifiers, is not in the squad so we’ll need to see more from Jose Fajardo, who has scored just once in Qatar 2022 qualifiers.

Regardless, Panama is the most experienced side in the eight-team CONCACAF field and didn’t lose consecutive matches in 2021. They’ve been one of the better soccer picks when playing at home and haven’t lost there since 2019.

Jamaica Losing Ground

Jamaica astonishingly managed to go up 1-0 vs Mexico on Thursday night after going a man down. Center back Damion Lowe received a red card in the last minute of the first half, but Daniel Johnson capitalized on a bad clearance from Mexico a few minutes into the second half to put the Reggae Boyz ahead.

Despite being under constant pressure from Mexico, Jamaica held El Tri scoreless until the 81st minute. Substitute striker Henry Martin finally got the breakthrough for Mexico and Alexis Vega won the match on a sweetly taken volley a couple of minutes later.

It was a well-deserved win for Mexico but Jamaica deserve some credit for battling valiantly with a man down. Still, Jamaica are winless in their last three qualifiers and are in sixth, seven points behind Panama. They have some talented players on their roster but haven’t been a good pick for betting online.

It was a big coup for Jamaica when West Ham striker Michail Antonio officially gave up on his dream of playing for England and agreed to represent the Reggae Boyz internationally. Antonio, who just extended his West Ham contract, has already scored two goals in four appearances, including in a 1-1 draw vs the Team USA back in November.

He hasn’t had much time to rest due to the Premier League playing through the holiday period, but expect him to be the focal point for Jamaica here.

Prediction

Panama dominated the last match vs Jamaica and were perhaps a bit unlucky not to come away with a point vs Costa Rica on Thursday. Jamaica have the potential to get goals against the run of play and nick results, like they did on the road vs Team USA and Honduras, so I can’t completely count the Reggae Boyz out.

At even odds in the sportsbook, though, Panama is a good pick. They certainly need a win here to pull away from Costa Rica in the standings.

Pick: Panama (Ev)