The second-to-last Copa America 2024 quarterfinal is set for Saturday afternoon at State Farm Stadium, when faces for a spot in the South American soccer championship semifinals.
Panama, which never has advanced this far in Copa America, entered Thursday as one of only two Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) teams left in the tournament, along with . It’s not a stretch to say that Panama was the team least expected to still be alive after the group stage of matches, in which and the U.S. were eliminated.
But Panama has two major tournament wins over Colombia in the past, both coming in the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2005. Colombia won the other four meetings, all friendlies.
Colombia won Group D of the tournament, defeating Paraguay 2-1 in Houston, 3-0 in Glendale and drawing 1-1 with in Santa Clara, Calif. Panama lost 3-1 to in Miami Gardens, Fla., defeated the U.S., 2-1 in and defeated Bolivia 3-1 in to take second place in Group C.
Copa America 2024: Colombia looks to remain undefeated at State Farm Stadium
The winner on Saturday faces the Uruguay-Brazil winner in the semifinals on July 10.
In Copa America Centenario eight years ago, Los Cafeteros, as the Colombian national team is known, won the third-place match over the U.S. 1-0, at what was then University of Phoenix Stadium. On June 28 of this year they defeated Costa Rica 3-0 in front of at least 27,000 Colombia fans in Glendale.
Saturday marks the final Copa America 2024 match in Arizona, and maybe the last one for good unless operational changes to how the tournament is being run are made.
Reports and accounts of issues with the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) for how it has handled staffing, venue operations, team operations at training sites and media access. Another issue has been the high cost of match tickets at host sites all over the U.S., including Glendale, where in most cases prices have been $70 or more to sit in the upper deck at State Farm Stadium and well over $100 in the lower level.
Colombia’s fans, as they did last Friday, are expected to be the overwhelming majority of those in the seats on Saturday at State Farm Stadium. But plenty of tickets remain available.
Copa America 2024: When is Colombia vs Panama game?
Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. (local time) in Glendale on Saturday. Tickets remain available via SeatGeek for $59 and up, as of late morning on Friday.
Copa America 2024: How to watch Colombia vs Panama Saturday
The match will air on FS1 at 3 p.m. and TUDN (Spanish) starting at 2:30 p.m.
Copa America 2024: Colombia vs Panama rosters
Colombia (with player’s club team)
Goalkeepers: 25 – Álvaro Montero (Millonarios), 1 – David Ospina (Al-Nassr), 12 – Camilo Vargas (Atlas).
Defenders 2 – Carlos Cuesta (Genk), 21 – Daniel Muñoz (), 23 – Davinson Sánchez (Galatasaray), 26 – (Lens), 3 – Jhon Lucumí (), 17 – Johan Mojica (), 4 – Santiago Arias (Bahia), 13 – Yerry Mina ().
Midfielders: 10 – James Rodríguez (São Paulo), 16 – (Crystal Palace), 8 – Jorge Carrascal (Dynamo Moscow), 20 – Juan Fernando Quintero (Racing), 5 – Kevin Castaño (Krasnodar), 15 – Mateus Uribe (Al-Sadd), 6 – Richard Ríos (Palmeiras), 11 – Jhon Arias (Fluminense), 22 – Yáser Asprilla (Watford).
Forwards: 24 – Jhon Córdoba (Krasnodar), 14 – Jhon Jader Durán (), 7 – (Liverpool), 18 – (), 9 – Miguel Borja (River Plate), 19 – Rafael Santos Borré (Internacional).
Panama (with player’s club team)
Goalkeepers: 22 – Orlando Mosquera (Maccabi Tel Aviv), 1 – Luis Mejía (Club Nacional),12 – César Samudio (CD Marathón)
Defenders: 4 – Eduardo Anderson (Deportivo Saprissa), 3 – José Córdoba (Norwich City), 15 – Eric Davis (FC Kosice), 19 – Iván Anderson (Fortaleza CEIF), 23 – (Marseille), 2 – César Blackman (Slovan Bratislava), 24 – Edgardo Fariña (CSD Municipal), 25 – Roderick Miller (Turan-Tovuz IK), 18 – ().
Midfielders: 5 – Abdiel Ayarza (Cienciano), 20 – (), 8 – (Houston Dynamo FC), 6 – Cristian Martínez (Al Jandal), 7 – José Luis Rodríguez (Famalicão), 10 – Edgar Bárcenas (Mazatlán FC), 14 – Jovani Welch (Académico Viseu FC), 13 – Freddy Góndola (Maccabi Bnei Reineh), 16 – (Minnesota United FC), 21 – César Yanis (AD San Carlos), 26-Kaiser Lenis (Jaguares de Cerdoba)
Forwards: 11- Ismael Díaz (CD Universidad Católica), 17 – José Fajardo (CD Universidad Católica), 9 – Eduardo Guerrero (Zorya Lugansk).
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: