SAN JOSÉ, Costa Rica, July 14, 2026. – Panama finally celebrated its long-awaited first victory at the third edition of the AFECAVOL Men’s Final Four, doing so in impressive fashion by handing previously unbeaten Belize its first loss in a hard-fought five-set battle, 3-2 (21-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-23, 15-13).
Panama improved its record to 1-2 and will play for the bronze medal in the final day against the loser of the match between Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
Belize was unable to complete a perfect preliminary round after suffering its first defeat, but its 2-1 record secured a place in the final. The team must now await the outcome of the Nicaragua–Costa Rica match to determine whether it finishes first or second in the preliminary standings and to learn its opponent in the gold medal match.
Panama showed great determination by rallying from behind twice before keeping its composure in a thrilling fifth set, securing an important confidence-boosting victory ahead of the bronze medal match.
The teams finished even in attacks (59-59). Belize held the advantage in blocks (17-12), but its 33 unforced errors ultimately proved costly. Panama, meanwhile, led 4-2 in service aces.
Víctor Arauz led Panama’s offense with 15 points, while Dixon Downer added 13 and Daniel Andrade contributed 11.
For Belize, Ernest Broaster paced the scoring with 18 points, followed closely by Francis Hauze with 17 and Eleazar Mejía with 12.
After Panama celebrated its first victory of the tournament, captain Otto Othon said: “We had to work very hard for this victory. During our technical meetings, we were clear about our objective, which was to get the win. The truth is we’ve improved match by match, and against Belize we were finally able to put everything together. This victory gives us a big boost because we’ll enter our last match with a different mindset as we fight for the bronze medal.”
Belize captain Elton Anderson commented: “This wasn’t the result we wanted. Panama played very well and did what it needed to do to win. It was a very close match, and we have a lot of respect for Panama. Now we have to focus on our next match and correct the mistakes we made today.”
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