Canada and Costa Rica favorites to seal Olympic berths

July 8 - Canada, who have beaten Trinidad and Tobago six times in their first group game, will look for an equally dominating performance against Panama tonight and book their place in the semi-finals of the Cup of the world 2023.

Panama, who lost by three to an elegant Costa Rican, are looking to have their work cut out for them and will again depend on star goalkeeper Yenith Bailey to keep them in the game.

Four of Canada's goals against Trinidad came in 10 minutes late in the game as the Olympic champions quickly established their credentials as contenders for the Concacaf W Championship. Bev Preistman is that they came from different players.

Once again, it was the unstoppable Christine Sinclair who opened the door for Canada with her 11th CWC competitive goal. But once opened, Julia Grosso (2), Jordyn Huitema, Janine Beckie and Jessie Fleming were quick to get through.

Canada and Panama met in the 2018 semi-final, in which some of Tuesday night's scorers, such as Sinclair, Fleming and Beckie, also found the back of the net.

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Costa Rica on the rise?

Costa Rica approach their second group game closer than they have ever been to a Women's World Cup final.

Their dominating 3-0 win over Panama contrasted with Trinidad & Tobago's rocky 6-0 loss to Canada.

In Raquel Rodriguez, Costa Rica have a game-changing artist who continues to deliver, scoring the first against Panama and the sixth of her CWC career. Captain Katherine Alvarado and Priscila Chinchilla also stepped in, scoring the other two goals of the night.

Trinidad and Tobago received a punch in the final 10 minutes against Canada, creating a scoreline that did not reflect the performance of the first 89 minutes. Goalkeeper Kimika Forbes was the star for Trinidad, but it's a young and developing team, with lots of homegrown players who haven't had many game opportunities at this level.

Costa Rica start with solid favorites, but Trinidid are athletic enough to challenge them, and they know they are at the stage of their development where they will improve every time they step onto the pitch.

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