GOLD CUP 2023
Panama’s Ismael Díaz scores fastest hat-trick in Gold Cup history
Los Canaleros booked their place in the semi-finals of the 2023 Gold Cup with a quick-fire treble from the 26-year-old winger.
Panama eased past Qatar on Saturday night and booked their place in the semi-final of the Gold Cup 2023.
Édgar Bárcenas opened the score for Los Canaleros and Ismael Díaz sealed the victory with a record-breaking performance for Panama.
The 26-year-old winger scored three times in just 11 minutes to take the game away from Qatar and wrote his name into the history books. Díaz’s treble is the fastest hat-trick in the history of the Gold Cup.
Panama took the lead with a great header in the 19th as Édgar Bárcenas nodded past Qatar goalkeeper Salah Zakaria. They had to wait until the second half to increase their lead but Díaz put the game to bed with ten-minute hat trick. He score on the 56th, 63rd and 65th minute to break the Gold Cup record.
He also made history for his team, becoming the first Panamanian to score a Gold Cup hat trick.
Ismael Díaz’s 10-minue treble surpass the previous record of 11 minutes, scored by Luis Roberto Alvez Zague of Mexico against Martinique in the 1993 group stage.
Zague’s hat-trick came in an incredible 9-0 win, with Zague scoring seven goals in total. That, unsuprisingly, helped him be crowned top goalscorer in the 1993 tournament. His record of 11 goals is still the most scored by a player in a single Gold Cup edition.