Ismael Díaz Scored a Hat Trick to Give Panama a Victory over Jamaica to Take the Lead in Group C

Striker Ismael Díaz, pictured above, had a dream day, scoring a hat trick as Panama defeated Jamaica 4-1 and qualified as the leader of Group C for the 2025 Gold Cup quarterfinals.  The Universidad Católica de Ecuador striker scored all three goals in the first half, with two fine individual plays and a penalty. The referee had barely finished blowing the initial whistle when Ismael Díaz appeared in the fourth minute, in a corner kick laboratory play, with a powerful shot from outside the area to beat Andre Blake. La Roja once again showed solid footballing prowess and decisiveness in the opponent’s half, but also suffered a slump and showed some defensive errors against the Jamaican attack.