USA vs Panama Projected Starting Lineups for Concacaf Nations League Semifinal

United States Soccer

is ready to defend its Concacaf Nations League title, but the Americans will have to get past Panama in the semifinals first.

Mauricio Pochettino’s USMNT will host the Panamanians at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Thursday night, with a spot in the final on the line. Canada and Mexico face off in the other semifinal, setting up another potential classic against one of the USA’s great sporting rivals.

The semifinal round is a one-game knockout, meaning the winner will be heading to the final on March 23, while the loser will participate in the third-place game earlier that day.

Pochettino announced his 23-man roster last week, which included plenty of familiar faces for American soccer fans.

USMNT Nations League Roster: Pulisic, Adams Lead Group to Defend Title

The USMNT roster for Nations League this month has dropped, as Mauricio Pochettino names his squad.

The US has won all three iterations of the Concacaf Nations League since its inception in 2021, defeating Mexico (twice) and Canada in the finals.

The Stars and Stripes beat Jamaica 5-2 over two legs in the quarterfinals to book their ticket to the CNL final four. They’ve since beaten Venezuela 3-1 and Costa Rica 3-0 in friendlies during the USMNT’s January camp.

Panama, meanwhile, overcame Costa Rica 3-2 on aggregate, qualifying through a 2-2 draw in the second leg despite going down a man with 10 minutes left to play.

The Central American nation have been in a poor run of form recently, however, losing 2-1 to Peruvian club Universitario in a hybrid friendly, and suffering a 6-1 rout to Chile in February.

The United States and Panama have met on 29 previous occasions, with the Americans winning 18 of those contests, compared to just seven wins for Panama. La Marea Roja have won two of the last three duels between the two nations.

Where to Watch USA vs Panama

When: Thursday, March 20 – 7PM ET / 4PM PT
Where: SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles
Where to watch in the United States: Paramount+, Univision (Spanish)

USA vs Panama Betting Odds

Pulisic USMNT — Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

USA to win: -340
Draw: +370
Panama to win: +850
Both teams to score (Yes/No): +112 / -142
Over/Under 3.5 goals: +200 / -270
Josh Sargent first goalscorer: +370
Christian Pulisic anytime goalscorer: +165

Odds courtesy of FanDuel.

Panama Projected Starting Lineup vs USA

Thomas Christiansen’s squad has a strong MLS

influence, with three of its top players (Anibal Godoy, Carlos Harvey and Omar Valencia) currently playing in North America, and another (Coco Carrasquilla) having

just left the US for a big move to Mexico
.

Striker Jose Fajardo, who currently plies his trade in Ecuador, is the current top scorer on the squad with 15.

Panama predicted lineup (4-3-3): Orlando Mosquera (GK) – Cesar Blackman, Edgardo Farina, Jose Cordoba, Jorge Gutierrez – Anibal Godoy, Cristian Martinez, Coco Carrasquilla – Tomas Rodriguez, Jose Fajardo, Cecilio Waterman.

USA Projected Starting Lineup vs Panama

Pochettino will have a few tough decisions to make with his lineup on Thursday.

The goalkeeping position has been up for grabs of late, and with Zack Steffen playing the best soccer of his life for Colorado Rapids

, there’s a chance the former Manchester City

man gets a shout. We do expect veteran Matt Turner to get the starting job against Panama, however.

Picking a starting striker will be difficult too, as the Argentinian coach has a handful of in-form forwards to choose from. Patrick Agyemang impressed during January camp, and could be the star striker of the future. Brian White has been on fire for Vancouver, while Josh Sargent has scored eight goals in his last eight appearances for Norwich City

Sargent might be the one who wins out here, but Pochettino can go in either direction and it would make sense.

USA predicted lineup (4-2-3-1): Matt Turner (GK) – Joe Scally, Chris Richards, Tim Ream, Antonee Robinson – Weston McKennie, Tanner Tessmann – Yunus Musah, Christian Pulisic, Timothy Weah – Josh Sargent.