Hamilton (New Zealand), Feb 23 (IANS): The last official match of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifying playoffs was held here on Thursday, with Panama locking the last place at the finals.

Panama beat Paraguay to reach the FIFA Women's World Cup for the first time after a hard-fought 1-0 win in the Group C Play-off Tournament final.

Lineth Cedeno scored the only goal of the tense play-off, ending the hopes of their South American opponents, who were also chasing a maiden Women's World Cup appearance.

The Panamanians go into a World Cup group with Brazil, France and Jamaica, a Xinhua report said.

The quadrennial FIFA Women's World Cup will see 32 nations compete in the ninth edition, which will be held jointly by Australia and New Zealand for the first time from July 20 to August 20, 2023.

With the tournament taking place across ten stadia, six in Australia and four in New Zealand, the opening ceremony will be staged at Eden Park Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, on July 20.