MIAMI, Florida – Canada and Panama each earned victories on Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Concacaf Men’s Under-17 Championship to qualify for the 2023 FIFA Under-17 Men’s World Cup in Peru.
Canada and Panama join the United States and Mexico as teams qualified from Concacaf for the U17 Men’s World Cup.
The Estadio Doroteo Guamuch Flores in Guatemala City was once again the venue for the matches, and it was Canada punching the first ticket of the day thanks to a 3-0 victory over Puerto Rico.
Kyler Vojvodic got the Canadians off to a dream start in the 8’ with a piercing header into the back of net for a 1-0 lead.
Antoine Sedar N Diaye doubled the margin in the 36’ via the penalty spot with a composed and powerful effort after a foul a minute earlier in the Puerto Rico area.
Canada then made sure there would be no comeback from Puerto Rico, as Lazar Stefanovic craftily steered home a free kick from just outside the area to complete the 3-0 scoreline and seal Canada’s World Cup place.
The nightcap was a duel of Central American sides and there was no shortage of drama as Panama edged Honduras 2-1 to secure the fourth and final ticket to the U17 Men’s World Cup.
After a scoreless first half, Panama would pick up the game’s first goal in the 50’, as a corner kick swung in by Eric Moreno was headed into the Honduran goal by Honduran DF Brayan Vaquedano for a 1-0 Panama lead.
It stayed that way until second half stoppage time when Los Canaleros tacked on an insurance goal in the 90+1’ through Joshua Pierre, who slalomed past a pair of Honduran defenders before unleashing a stinging right-footed shot that found the back of the net for a 2-0 Panama advantage.
Panama were glad to have had Pierre’s insurance tally, as just two minutes later in the 90+3’ it was back to a one-goal game at 2-1, with Russel Cruz scoring to give Honduras hope.
In the end, Panama were able to see things out to collect the victory and book their World Cup spot.
