Brazil W vs Panama W prediction: WORLD: World Cup Women betting tips on match 2023-07-23 11:00.
For a nation famed for its footballing exploits, the Women's World Cup (WWC) is a title that has so far eluded Brazil, with their second place finish in 2007 the only time in history that they have reached a WWC final. The current South American champions head into their opening group game after a couple of decent friendly wins, although a fairly disappointing performance in the SheBelieves Cup and a penalty shootout loss to England in the inaugural edition of the Finalissima might be a better indicator of their chances in this competition.
Facing a Panama side ranked 44 places worse off in FIFA’s world rankings seems a dream start for Brazil, but they don’t necessarily need a helping hand in that respect as they have won their group opener on each of their eight prior WWC appearances. Incredibly, six-time FIFA player of the year Marta has made the squad in five of those, but with this already confirmed to be her last WWC appearance, there’s added incentive for Brazil to finally break their duck on her tournament swansong.
As one of eight WWC debutants, Panama head into this tournament with far less expectations than their Brazilian counterparts. Interestingly, Panama were the 32nd and final side to secure their spot at this WWC, rubber stamping their ticket to the finals with a 1-0 victory over Paraguay all the way back in February.
Panama have ramped up their preparations for the tournament with a wealth of friendlies since, though those have thrown up mixed success (W3, D1, L3). It’s the last two games in that run which catch the eye though, a 5-0 loss to Japan and a 7-0 humbling by Spain who are a nation sitting just two places better off in FIFA’s rankings than Brazil, highlighting the size of the task that awaits Panama and perhaps justifying why some bookmakers have priced them at eye-watering odds to win this game!
Players to watch: Bidding to add to her WWC record 17 tournament goals, expect a fast start from Marta, whose last two WWC goals served as game openers. Contrastingly, scorer of the goal securing Panama’s spot at the tournament, Lineth Cedeño has closed her nation’s scoring in seven of her last eight international appearances in which she’s netted.
Hot stat: Six of Brazil’s last seven WWC outings have been settled by a single-goal margin.