Panama will look to improve its World Cup qualifying chances when it takes on Jamaica in Friday's qualifiers.
The Panamanians enter Friday's contest with six points in six games. They have one win, three draws, and two defeats. However, Panama trails fourth place Honduras by one point and third place Mexico by just two points. The top three sides in the group automatically move on to Brazil next summer while the fourth place team has to take on New Zealand in a two-legged playoff to earn qualification.
Panama faces a Jamaican side that has yet to win a single qualifying match and has only two points through six games. One of those draws came against Panama in Kingston on March 22; however, Panama has been excellent at home in qualifiers thus far with one win and two draws in three qualifying matches.
A Panamanian win coupled with a Mexico-Honduran draw would push Panama into a tie with Mexico for third place with three games to go; Mexico and Panama meet up on Oct. 11, 2013.
Panama started its tournament off with a 2-2 draw against Costa Rica. In their second game, Los Canaleros drew 1-1 against Jamaica before defeating Honduras 2-0. Panama hit a few obstacles as they drew 0-0 with Mexico at home and lost 2-0 against the Americans in Seattle. In their most recent qualifier, the Panamanians lost 2-0 against Costa Rica.
Prediction: Panama pulls off a 1-0 win.
Start Time: 10 p.m. EST