Team Panama is out of FIFA Women’s World Cup, but they were still celebrating after a 3-6 loss to France. The reason? The Panamanians, who had never qualified for a Women’s World Cup before, just scored their first (second and third) World Cup goals ever in this tournament.
For other countries, that’s not nearly enough, but for Panama, that’s more than they ever dreamed could happen.
The tiny Central American country, with a population hovering around 4 million people, only has a semi-professional Women’s Fútbol League (LFF), which was founded in 2017. That league only plays one tournament a year, and it’s not nationally broadcast. That means that for most of these players, the game barely pays the bills.
And yet, there they were, on the biggest stage for women’s fútbol in the world. And 26-year-old Marta Cox was scoring the quickest game in the World Cup, with a pretty sensational free-kick against France. So, it was hard to blame Cox or her teammates for the emotional celebration where they literally piled on each other.
The casual viewer watching at home or some out of the 40,000 attending might’ve been confused at the joy that Panama fans exhibited when the goal happened. Panama was already eliminated, after all. And France came back into the game pretty quickly. But Panama celebrated like the goal was more than just a meaningless number, and the reaction online was pretty much the same.
Many were giving Cox her flowers.
People were also remembering when Cox said that she wished that her mom was there, saying that it was her mother’s dream for her to reach the World Cup after they first qualified.
Then there were the general vibes of the team afterward where there was singing, flags were being waved, and the team was up above the crowd.
And even the vibes during the second and third goals were just as amazing.
The reaction was reminiscent of when Panama’s men’s team scored their first goal in a World Cup in Russia 2018, in a game they lost 6-1. There was celebration then too. What for some is a loss, for others it’s a step forward.
