COPA AMERICA: URUGUAY VS PANAMÁ PREDICTION, PREVIEW & BETTING PICKS

Uruguay are a good shout to win the entire competition this summer and Panama are unlikely to put up much of a fight in the opening game with Nunez likely to be on the scoresheet. Uruguay 4 - 0 Panamá.

Uruguay and Panama make the trip to the Hard Rock Stadium for their opening game of the 2024 Copa America. Uruguay should be favourites to win this group and will be looking to make a strong first impression.

Date: 24/06/2024

Kick-off time: 10:00 (EST)

Location: Hard Rock Stadium

A win in the first game will set the tone for the side in what could be a tight group with Group C consisting of Uruguay, Panama, USA and Bolivia. Uruguay automatically qualified for the Copa America as a CONMEBOL nation and is also the team with the most appearances in the competition. Since their debut at the first rendition of the competition, Uruguay have made 46 appearances, appearing in all but two tournaments in 1963 and 1925.In terms of success in the competition, Uruguay are the joint most successful team in the Copa America with 15 titles, equal with Argentina. The most recent win at the Copa America was back in 2011 and before that the last Final appearance came in 1999.Panama, on the other hand, are a CONCACAF team and had to earn qualification for the Copa America. Panama’s path to the Copa America was via the Nations League Finals. Despite losing to both Mexico and Jamaica, Panama still made the final tournament.This will be Panama’s second ever appearance in the competition after their debut in 2016. This appearance ended at the Group stage where Panama won once and lost twice in three games and were eliminated.Uruguay and Panama have met just three times in their histories, with the first meeting coming back in the 1952 Pan American Championship. Uruguay have won every game, with Panama yet to even get a draw out of this fixture.Two of these three games have seen both sides on the scoresheet, but the most recent meeting in 2019 saw just Uruguay on the scoresheet.

Uruguay Team News

Marcelo Bielsa will have the likes of Ronald Araujo and Jose Maria Gimenez in defence, Rodrigo Bentancur and Federico Valverde in midfield and Darwin Nunez and Facundo Pellistri up front.

Panama Team News

Thomas Christensen has called up the likes of Jose Cordoba, Adalberto Carrasquilla, Anibal Godoy and Cecilio Waterman for his Copa America squad.

In their last five games in all competitions, Uruguay have three wins, one draw and one loss.Uruguay took on current World Champions Argentina in a World Cup Qualifier back in November and Araujo gave Uruguay the lead just before halftime. Nunez secured the 2 - 0 win for Uruguay in the 87th minute as Argentina had just three shots on target.Another World Cup Qualifier saw Uruguay take on Bolivia. Nunez opened the scoring for Uruguay in the 15th minute and an own goal from Gabriel Villamil doubled the lead before halftime. Nunez added another in the second half to give Uruguay the 3 - 0 win.An international friendly had Uruguay take on the Ivory Coast. An own goal from Mathias Olivera gave the Ivory Coast the lead in the ninth minute but Federico Vinas equalised for Uruguay with under 15 minutes to go. However, Guela Doue popped up with a goal in the 84th minute to give Ivory Coast the 2 - 1 win.Uruguay had just one shot on target in four attempts with 36% of the possession in the 0 - 0 draw with Costa Rica.The last time out for Uruguay was against Mexico. Nunez picked up a hat-trick in under 50 minutes and was joined on the scoresheet by Pellestri in the dominant 4 - 0 win over Mexico, despite having less of the possession.

In their last five games in all competitions, Panama have two wins and three losses.The CONCACAF Nations League Semi-finals saw Panama take on Mexico. Panama had five shots on target but couldn’t convert any of them as Edson Alvarez, Julian Quinones and Orbelin Pineda all scored in the 3 - 0 win for Mexico.The Third place Play-off between Panama and Jamaica saw Panama manage just two shots on target with 62% of the possession. Dexter Lembikisa scored the only goal of the game in the 41st minute to give Jamaica the 1 - 0 win.The Second Round of the World Cup Qualifiers saw Panama take on Guyana. Cristian Martinez and Jose Luis Rodriguez scored within three minutes of each other in the second half to give Panama the 2 - 0 win.Another game in the World Cup Qualifiers had Panama facing Montserrat. Jovani Welch gave Panama the lead just before halftime but Kaleem Simon equalised for Montserrat just minutes into the second half. However, Jose Fajardo and Rodriguez both scored to give Panama the 3 - 1 win.The most recent outing for Panama was against Paraguay. Gustavo Velazquez scored the only goal of the game in the 25th minute to give Paraguay the 1 - 0 win.