Argentina vs Panama
International Friendly, KO: 23:30 Mar 23, 2023, Estadio Más MonumentalEstadio Más Monumental
Three months after lifting their third World Cup crown, and first since 1986, Argentina take to the field once again as they entertain Panama in an international friendly. Lionel Scaloni’s side are now focused on building towards retaining another title as next year they’ll be aiming to defend their Copa América title in the United States.
Panama failed to make the World Cup in Qatar, but they’ll surely relish the opportunity to test themselves against one of the major footballing nations, but on the other hand it presents a rather daunting prospect. This is actually not the most important match they will play this week and following their trip to Buenos Aires they’ll make the journey to Costa Rica in the Concacaf Nations League. They’ve already progressed out the group but there is some interesting team news to suggest that match takes priority over Argentina.
Leeds United fans will remember Thomas Christiansen from his take in charge in 2017/18 and since 2020 he has been in the Panama Head Coach role, and has done very well. A 45% winning record is nothing to be ashamed of and having overseen wins over the likes of USA and Canada during his tenure he has certainly progressed the team to a point where they can compete to qualify for major tournaments. They only narrowed missed out on a play-off to potentially qualify for the Qatar World Cup and the fact they went so close has raised the profile of the nation from a footballing perspective.
For all that they have achieved plenty, the reality is that they’ll probably never reach a level of opponents Argentina. The quality of player available to them just isn’t comparable and as such when both take to the same field then the bookies rightly so have Argentina as big, big favourites. Scaloni has called up all his big hitters for this one and no doubt he’ll want them to put on a bit of a show. We all saw their seemingly never-ending celebrations after lifting the trophy before Christmas, and once more you can expect something of a party atmosphere this time around.
As is often the case with friendlies, a degree of rotation cannot be ruled out, but you’d suspect Scaloni may elect to do that in their second friendly against Curacao in a few days’ time. Still, they should have more than enough to despatch a Panama side who actually haven’t called up a full strength side of their own for first. As mentioned, they play Costa Rica next up, and Christiansen has called up a separate squad across the two matches. Only four players in the whole squad for this Argentina trip have double-digit caps to their name, and the worry is that whilst they’ll gain valuable experience they could be on the end of a big beating.
Panama are ranked a very creditable 61st in the FIFA rankings, but that ranking is based upon them selecting their best pool of players. The team they have selected here is going to be ranked considerably lower to that within reason, and Argentina, ranked only second to Brazil in the rankings, are at full tilt. They tend to enjoy their clashes against the lesser lights in the football world, too. UAE, Honduras, Jamaica, Estonia and Venezuela have all suffered a defeat of 3-0 or higher in recent years. Only that defeat to Saudi Arabia early in the World Cup remains Argentina’s only defeat since the beginning of 2020.
How the bookies view it
Understandably, Argentina are heavy favourites for this and are best priced at 1/18 with Sky Bet. 10bet is your place to go if you believe this will end all-square at a quote of 30/1. If Panama are the side you fancy to cause the biggest of shocks then Betfair is your place to go to take advantage of the 100/1 on offer.
Recent head to head
This will be the third occasion the two have taken on one another and Argentina are going in search of a trio of victories. The previous two meetings took place seven years apart in 2009 and 2016, and the third instalment will also be staged seven years after the last duel. The first of those ending in a 3-1 win for La Albiceleste, also in a friendly, whilst it was a more comfortable 5-0 success in the second contest on their way to finishing as runners-up in Copa América Centenario. Lionel Messi helped himself to a hat-trick on that occasion.
Players to watch
Lionel Scaloni is likely to spread the minutes across his squad for this game and then versus Curacao a few days later, so it is maybe advisable to await team news first and foremost. Still, it is perhaps more likely he’ll name a strong side against Panama as they look to lay down a real marker in their first match as World Cup holders. With Messi enduring a tough time in France with Paris Saint-Germain, he’ll surely relish the chance to be back on home soil in front of a crowd that places him above everything else on planet Earth. He has found the back of the net in ten of his last 11 appearances for his country (17 in total), and in six of those he netted the opening goal. Bet365 offers 7/4 for him to once again score goal number one.
Messi always dominates the goal markets for practically every game he participates him, and that does present value elsewhere for others in the goal markets. The odds suggest Argentina are likely to net a few goals here, so there could be a few little gems in the scoring markets to take advantage of. Brighton’s Alexis MacAllister isn’t a free-flowing goalscorer, but he has already achieved his best club scoring season of his career and heads into this with two in his last four games. He is available at 6/4 with VBet is add another goal to his tally anytime.
Anything else catch the eye?
Argentina possess a very strong recent record in international friendly fixtures and are on a 12-match unbeaten run in such games. Across the nine wins they earned in that time, seven came with a clean sheet, whilst within that seven wins by shutout they were ahead at half time in six. Furthermore, six triumphs in the 12 matches have seen them score two or more within the first half, and with Panama naming something of an inexperienced, experimental squad then there is every chance Messi and co could bag a few before the break. Finding value in one-sided betting contests such as this can be tricky, but over 1 first half goal for Argentina and exactly zero goals in the match for Panama is priced at evens on the Bet365 bet builder, and is a nice little play.
This International Friendly match between Argentina and Panama will be played on Mar 23, 2023 and kick off at 23:30. Check below for our tipsters best Argentina vs Panama prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
