Carlos Pineda scored the decisive penalty shot as Honduras beat Panama in a shootout after the teams played to a 1-1 draw in the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals on Saturday night at State Farm Field in Glendale, Arizona.

Honduras advanced to the semifinals on Wednesday in Santa Clara, where it will face Mexico. It’s the first time Honduras has made the Gold Cup semis since 2013.

Honduras struggled to generate many scoring opportunities until coming alive late in the second half. Los Catrachos evened the scored in the 82nd minute when Anthony Lozano deflected a shot from Pineda into the corner of the net following a corner kick.

Both teams made four out of five shots in the initial round of penalty kicks. Honduras had a chance to win with its fifth attempt, but Orlando Mosquera made a diving stop on Lozano’s shot.

Panama’s Eduardo Guerrero sailed the next penalty kick over the net, giving Honduras another chance to win. This time, Pineda took advantage, burying his shot into the bottom left corner to give Honduras the 5-4 shootout win.

Panama dominated possession in the first half, but couldn’t break through until Cristian Martínez was fouled by Honduras’ Edwin Rodríguez in the 44th minute just inside the penalty area. Ismael Díaz took the shot and calmly scored his Gold Cup-leading sixth goal, finding the bottom left corner of the net for a 1-0 lead.

Panama scored 10 goals in the three games during the group stage, including eight in the first half. With his sixth goal, Díaz passed Gabriel Torres as the Panamanian player with the most goals in a single Gold Cup.

Panama is a three-time Gold Cup runner-up, losing twice in the championship game to the U.S. (2005, 2013) and once to Mexico in 2023. Honduras was runner-up in the inaugural tournament in 1991, losing to the U.S.

Mexico 2, Saudi Arabia 0: Alexis Vega snapped a 19-match scoreless streak in international play with a goal in the 49th minute and defending champion Mexico beat Saudi Arabia in the second quarterfinal at State Farm Field.

Mexico will face Honduras in the semifinals on Wednesday.

The 27-year-old Vega scored after finding some room to work following a nice pass from Raúl Jimenez. His first shot bounced off goalkeeper Nawaf Alaquidi, but the forward quickly corralled the rebound and sent it through Alaquidi’s legs and into the net.

Vega was initially ruled offside but after review, the goal was allowed and Mexico had a 1-0 lead.

Vega’s goal snapped a scoreless streak in international play that dates back to 2022. It also ended a dry spell for Mexico, which scored for the first time in 166 minutes of play.

Mexico pushed ahead 2-0 in the 81st minute on an own goal by Saudi Arabia’s Abdullah Madu. Mexico’s Mateo Chavez sent a crossing pass to Roberto Alvarado, who never made contact with the ball. Instead, it caromed off a defending Madu and into the net.

Saudi Arabia stifled Mexico’s offense for much of a scoreless, physical first half. The tension escalated just before halftime — Saudi Arabia’s Ali Majrashi and Mexico’s Jesús Gallardo were both shown yellow cards after the two exchanged shoves.

Gallardo will be suspended for the semifinal round because he has too many yellow cards in the tournament.