Population: 4.0 million
Capital: Panama City
Team Colors: Red and White
How Qualified: 3rd in CONCACAF Hexagonal
Nickname: Los Canaleros
1st World Cup
Head Coach: Hernan Dario Gomez (COL)
Key Players: Roman Torres (Seattle Sounders FC), Gabriel Torres (Huachipato), Jamie Penedo (Dinamo Bucharest)
Best Performance: First World Cup
Can they do anything at the World Cup now that they have finally made one? In the last qualification cycle, a Graham Zusi goal in stoppage time ended Panama’s hopes of reaching a playoff against New Zealand. Last October, it would be a Roman Torres goal for Panama against Costa Rica that effectively eliminated the USA from the World Cup and put Los Canaleros in automatically.
Panama is in the World Cup for the first time and at long last in many cases as most of the key players are in their 30s. Goalkeeper Jamie Penedo is 36, Roman Torres is 32 (and might miss out due to injury), Captain Felipe Baloy is 37, so is Blas Perez who is on the preliminary roster. Midfielder Gabriel Gomez will be 34 by the time Panama kicks off against Belgium.
However, there are younger players up and coming such as Michael Murillo (22), Ricardo Avila (21), and Miguel Carmargo (24).
With the group that Panama has, any points will be considered a victory for them. Very few expect them to get something against either Belgium or England. Their best chance for points will no doubt be in Saransk against Tunisia.
Naturally, any team making their first World Cup appearance, either for a long time or ever, will want to make a good impression when they get there. Panama is likely going to be look to do the same, but in the grand scheme of things, at least a point will be something to build on for future Panamanian teams hoping to emulate this generation.
Schedule:
June 18: vs. Belgium in Sochi (10am CT on FS1/Telemundo)
June 24: vs. England in Nizhny Novgorod (7am CT on FS1/Telemundo)
June 28: vs. Tunisia in Saransk (1pm CT on FS1/NBC Universo)
FIFA
August, 2021
June, 2021
November, 2019
2018 World Cup
October, 2018
September, 2018
