Panama W vs France W prediction: WORLD: World Cup Women betting tips on match 2023-08-01 10:00.
There was no miracle for Panama, who entered their first FIFA Women's World Cup (WWC) as the fifth-lowest-ranked team (#52), so perhaps it was unsurprising that they lost their opening two group matches against Brazil and Jamaica “to-nil”. With their elimination confirmed, Las Canaleras are now playing for pride, but will be desperate to claim all three points against France here in Sydney, with head coach Ignacio Quintana stating that they will “keep fighting as if we can still qualify”.
That’s much easier said than done, as Panama have failed to score in their last four international matches (L4), and their only victory in seven outings came against Gibraltar, a nation not ranked by FIFA. However, a significant improvement was observed in the last match against Jamaica, where they matched the Reggae Girlz for shots on target (4-4) and had 52% possession.
By defeating Brazil (2-1) in a high stakes affair at the top of the group, thanks to a late header from Wendie Renard on Saturday, France have moved closer to their fourth consecutive knockout stage appearance at the WWC. Indeed, Les Bleues only need to avoid defeat in their next match against already-eliminated Panama to secure one of the group’s top two spots.
Many would have expected that winning Group F would mean avoiding a blockbuster clash against fellow European giants Germany in the last 16, but after the two-time World champions’ shock defeat against Colombia, the situation has changed. While France would be keen to avoid a third WWC H2H against Germany, especially as they lost both of the previous two, confidence is high in the camp, perhaps best demonstrated by Kenza Dali referring to head coach Hervé Renard as a "twelfth man on the sidelines".
Players to watch: Panama will hope striker Karla Riley can find the net given they avoided defeat in all her three international scoring appearances this year (W2, D1). France could once again prove dangerous from set-pieces, largely thanks to Renard (1.87m) as four of her five career WWC goals have been headers.
Hot streak: One goal has been scored after the 75th minute in each of France’s previous four final WWC group stage games.