Recap: Qatar 3, Panama 3 | MLSSoccer.com
Qatar and Panama split the points in an epic 3-3 draw in Concacaf Gold Cup Group D play, which saw the sides combine for all six goals in a wild second half at BBVA Stadium in Houston on Tuesday evening.
Following a lengthy weather delay due to severe thunderstorms, the fireworks started with a 48th-minute goal from Qatar's Akram Afif and ended with a 79th-minute penalty kick from Panama's Eric Davis that marked his country's third equalizing goal of the match.
After a scoreless opening frame, Qatar found the opener shortly after second-half kickoff, setting off a dizzying stretch where the sides combined for four goals in 10 minutes. Afif did the honors on the first one, pouncing on a feed that was headed back across goal by teammate Pedro Miguel and lashing home a close-range finish.
Panama would equalize in short order off a corner straight off the training ground, which saw Rolando Blackburn nod home a perfectly placed header off a cross from Yoel Bárcenas. The level score would prove to be short-lived, as Qatar jumped right back on top just two minutes after that, when Almoez Ali deposited a shot from the right side of the box into the bottom left corner to make it 2-1, only to relinquish the lead again as Blackburn found his brace by finishing off another pinpoint cross from Bárcenas.
The chaos would only continue, as Qatar snatched the lead back once again, this time via a penalty kick that was won by Afif and converted by Hassan Al-Haydos, who made no mistake with an audacious panenka from the spot that restored their lead.
But Panama would strike back with a penalty of their own that was conceded by Abdelkarim Hassan and upheld on Video Review. Eric Davis smashed the spot-kick into the top corner, improbably leveling the contest for a third time. Both sides continued to frantically press for a winner over the final 10 minutes, but neither quite managed to find one and the 3-3 scoreline would hold as the final.