Panama brought three big points back from Honduras, staking an early claim to the fourth-place-in-the-Hex prize that is assumed to be the best any team not named USA, Mexico or Costa Rica can hope for in this competition. Fourth would be a fine finish, since it will bring an opportunity to win a place at Russia 2018 via a playoff against the fifth-best team emerging from Asia's World Cup qualifying tournament.
But Los Canaleros could establish themselves as contenders for a top-three place in this Hex - and an automatic place at the next World Cup - if they can start to gather points from games against the heavyweight teams in the tournament.