England's World Cup opponents: Panama in profile

Head coach: Thomas Christiansen
Last meeting: England 6-1 Panama, 24 June 2018, FIFA World Cup 2018

England are no strangers to Panama, having faced the Central Americans for the first and only time during the group stage of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Sir Gareth Southgate's side ran out comfortable 6-1 winners that day, with Harry Kane scoring a hat-trick. John Stones also netted twice in Nizhny Novgorod, while Jesse Lingard’s strike helped secure the Three Lions’ biggest ever World Cup victory.

Panama made it to only their second ever World Cup after finishing first in their Concacaf qualifying group featuring El Salvador, Suriname and Guatemala. They had previously battled past Nicaragua, Guyana, Montserrat and Belize in the earlier round of qualifying.

Thomas Tuchel will go up against their head coach, Thomas Christiansen, who had a brief spell in charge of Leeds in the Championship and once played for Barcelona. He has been at the helm for almost six years and led Panama to the Concacaf Nations League final in 2025.

Their biggest threat is likely to be winger Ismael Diaz, who was the top scorer at the Concacaf Gold Cup last year after netting six goals. Midfielder Adalberto Carrasquilla, captain Aníbal Godoy and veteran Cecilio Waterman are also key players under Christiansen.

Recent results

Panama's World Cup campaign began in heartbreaking fashion as they conceded a 95th minute goal to lose 1-0 to Ghana in Toronto in their opening game of the tournament.

On the same night that England defeated Croatia 4-2, Christiansen's side looked to have earned themselves their first ever World Cup point until Caleb Yirenkyi finished from close range in stoppage time.

Panama dominated possession, had more efforts at goal and more shots on target, but could not find a way through as their hopes of qualifying from Group L suffered an early blow.

And their chances of progressing were ended on Tuesday night, as they fell to a 1-0 defeat to Croatia courtesy of substitute Ante Budimir's second-half strike in Toronto.

Their build-up to the tournament had been mixed, with three warm-up games delivering differing results. Firstly, they were comfortably beaten 6-2 by Brazil on 31 May, with Vinicius Junior, Casemiro and Igor Thiago among those on the scoresheet for the hosts.

Los Canaleros returned to winning ways with a 4-2 victory over the Dominican Republic on 4 June and followed it up with a hard-fought 1-1 draw with fellow World Cup competitors Bosnia-Herzegovina two days later.

Panama’s World Cup squad:

Goalkeepers: Orlando Mosquera (Al-Fayha FC), Luis Mejía (Club Nacional), César Samudio (CD Marathon)

Defenders: César Blackman (Slovan Bratislava), Jorge Gutiérrez (Deportivo La Guaira), Amir Murillo (Besiktas), Fidel Escobar (Deportivo Saprissa), Andrés Andrade (LASK), Edgardo Fariña (FC Pari Nizhniy Novgorod), José Córdoba (Norwich City), Eric Davis (CD Plaza Amador), Jiovani Ramos (Academia Puerto Cabello), Roderick Miller (Turan Tovuz)

Midfielders: Aníbal Godoy (San Diego FC), Adalberto Carrasquilla (UNAM Pumas), Carlos Harvey (Minnesota United FC), Cristian Martínez (Ironi Kiryat Shmona), José Luis Rodríguez (FC Juarez), Cesar Yanis (CD Cobresal), Yoel Bárcenas (Mazatlan FC), Alberto Quintero (CD Plaza Amador), Azarías Londoño (CD Universidad Catolica)

Forwards: Ismael Díaz (Club Leon FC), Cecilio Waterman (Universidad de Concepcion), José Fajardo (CD Universidad Catolica), Tomás Rodríguez (Deportivo Saprissa)