Canada men lose to Panama, miss out on qualifying for 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup

LEÓN, Mexico — Canada's bid to get back to the FIFA Men's U-20 World Cup for the first time since 2007 will have to wait a little longer.

Ten-man Panama beat nine-man Canada 2-1 with a goal in a wild extra-time session that saw three red cards in quarterfinal play Tuesday at the CONCACAF U-20 Championship. Only the four semifinalists at the 12-team CONCACAF competition advance to next year's FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile.

Canada has not taken part in the FIFA U-20 soccer showcase since it hosted the event in 2007 — and has not qualified since 2005.

Panama substitute Aimar Modelo scored a wonder goal in the 95th minute, curling a left-footed shot from distance past a diving Canadian keeper Gregoire Swiderski into the top corner of the goal.

Referee Hakeem Harvey of St. Kitts and Nevis, hearing it from the sidelines, showed a yellow card to Canada coach Andrew Olivieri and Canadian goal-scorer Santiago Lopez, who was on the bench after being substituted, in a chippy extra-time session at Estadio Leon.

Defender Christian Greco-Taylor, who had been substituted earlier, was shown a red card on the Canada bench in the dying minutes of extra time. Canadian substitute Tavio Ciccarelli was also sent off for a second yellow.

Panama also finished down a man after Allan Saldana exited in the 118th minute for a second yellow card.

Reduced to 10 men and down a goal midway through the second half, Canada pulled even at 1-1 through Lopez in the 78th minute.

Canada appealed for a penalty in extra time stoppage time after a Myles Morgan shot hit a Panama defender. It went to video review, with no penalty awarded.

The game turned in the 65th minute when Harvey, upon video review, awarded Panama a penalty and sent off Canadian defender Immanuel Mathe after Giovany Herbert went down in a tangle in the penalty box.

Panama captain Rafael Mosquera beat Swiderski from the penalty spot in the 68th minute.

Olivieri replaced Theo Rigopoulos with Richard Chukwu on the Canadian side in the wake of the red card. Then, 10-man Canada answered when Lopez scored off a free kick on an acrobatic backheel, beating Panama goalkeeper Cecilio Burgess at the near post.

The Canadian goal survived a VAR check for offside.

Lopezhas been involved in five of Canada’s six goals at the tournament, with three goals and two assists.

The game went to extra time after five minutes of stoppage time, with Oumar Diallo replacing Lopez ahead of the extra 30 minutes. Canada captain Alessandro Biello had to be helped off early in extra time after taking a knock.

Canada was no stranger to late game heroics. It conceded a 94th-minute score in its opening 2-2 draw with Honduras, then profited from late strikes in wins over the Dominican Republic (1-0, Ciccarelli in the 86th minute) and El Salvador (2-1, Mataeo Bunbury in the 93rd minute).

In an earlier quarterfinal Tuesday, the defending champion U.S. beat Guatemala 1-0. Wednesday will see matchups of Mexico versus Costa Rica and Honduras versus Cuba.

Panama will play the U.S. in semifinal play.

The Americans extended their unbeaten run at the CONCACAF U-20 tournament to 24 games (22-0-2) since a 1-0 loss to Panama in the group stage in 2017.

Tuesday's game saw Canada having long stretches of possession in the first half but only managing one clear chance. Panama, meanwhile, looked dangerous on the counterattack.

Panama's Mosquera came close in the fifth minute, curling a free kick from the edge of the penalty box just wide of the post. Kairo Walters then hammered a low shot off the Canadian goalpost in the 14th minute.

Canada had a glorious chance in the 24th minute, but a sliding Morgan could not get a foot to Jeevan Badwal's enticing cross.

Mosquera tested Swiderski again in the 47th minute with a low shot and Panama defender Ariel Arroyo shot just wide soon after, cutting through the Canadian defence.

A Panama corner caused havoc in the 58th minute, with Rigopoulos making a key block and Biello a timely interception to end the threat.

The Canadians finished runner-up to Honduras on goal difference in Group B play at Estadio Sergio Leon Chavez in Irapuato. Panama (2-0-1) was runner-up to Mexico in Group C on a tiebreaker.

Canada booked its ticket to the CONCACAF competition by winning a qualifying group in February, overwhelming Dominica 8-0, St. Vincent and the Grenadines 4-0 and Trinidad and Tobago 3-0.

The U.S., Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic received byes into the CONCACAF main tournament.

Canada won the tournament in 1986 and 1996. It was eliminated in the round of 16 last time out in 2022, beaten by Guatemala on penalties.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 30, 2024.