And here’s the match report from tonight’s game:
So what else do we have for your entertainment at this hour?
First, see how a half-time speech rallied England in their lively game against Croatia.
For US fans, the worry over Christian Pulisic is growing. Dismissed as something minor after he was removed at halftime in the win over Paraguay, his injury has limited training for a few days now. Jeff Rueter says the team must be considering other options.
And in a bit less than 45 minutes, we’ll see the 47th and 48th teams of this World Cup, Uzbekistan and Colombia. Jonathan Howcroft is in the commentator’s chair. Enjoy, and I’ll see you for another game soon.
A draw would’ve done neither team much good. England and Croatia showed lethal attacks in their match earlier today. Advancing to the knockout rounds will certainly require three points and solid goal difference, or maybe four points. Taking only one from the match would’ve left each team seeking a win over England or Croatia, and that’s a lot to ask.
Instead, Ghana will know they just need to pick up a point to be virtually assured a spot in the round of 499. I mean, the round of 32. Still a tall order but not impossible.
Updated
Can the player of the match be a goalkeeper who had to leave the match at halftime? This would have been a completely different game if Lawrence Ati-Zigi hadn’t made a big save very early in the game and then bravely collected a couple of crosses. He absorbed a bit too much contact and had to leave the game in Benjamin Asare’s capable hands.
If not Ati-Zigi, my pick would be Brandon Thomas-Asante, the Coventry City midfielder who made incisive runs through several parts of the field and wound up putting the ball on a platter for the game-winning tap-in.
Any ill will from the late confrontation seems to have dissipated. We see only respectful handshakes.
Final: Ghana 1-0 Panama
A fair result in the end, as Panama’s attack fell to pieces in the second half and the Black Stars kept chipping away and asking more difficult questions of Panama’s defense.
Updated
90 min +12 Wait … 12? Yes, we’ve had some stoppages in stoppage time, but six additional minutes?
90 min +9 CHANCE FOR PANAMA, and it’s the goalkeeper Mosquera, up into the fray, who heads it down. It bounces up for Diaz, who heads it on goal but can’t get much on it. Asare grabs the ball, and Harvey isn’t able to hold back as he was in mid-kick. He makes contact with Asare, and we have a confrontation between the teams. Harvey gets a yellow card.
Asare stays down for a while. Remember – he came in for Ati-Zigi, who kept Panama off the board in the first half.
90 min +8 It’s a foul. Well, it’s probably not, as Cordoba was going to ground well before any contact was even thought of. Free kick from near the sideline.
90 min +7 The referee is displeased with the kickoff. Take it again.
They dump it back to one player while nine players rush forward. The long ball finds non one, but they win a throw-in.
Panama line up eight players on the kickoff, but we’re waiting for Yirenkyi to change his jersey under the ref’s orders.
Goal! Ghana 1-0 Panama (Yirenkyi 90+5)
That was unexpected.
Thomas-Asante is open on the left, and he coolly dribbles into the side of the penalty area. He puts the ball across the top of the 6, and while the first attacker can’t steer it in while being defender, Yirenkyi has a tap-in.
Updated
90 min +4 Good tackle for Panama, and off they go. To midfield. Then a hopeful ball down the flank to Diaz. He lays it off, and the ball is crossed to absolutely no one.
90 min +3 Thomas-Asante has the ball amid a circle of Panamanian defenders. He manages to work the ball out to the right, where Ghana win a throw-in … then play it back to midfield.
We couldn’t be seeing a cautious end to this one, could we?
90 min +2 Corner for Panama. Easily headed clear.
90 min +1 We will have the obligatory six minutes of stoppage time. That’s been a pretty steady number during this Cup, hasn’t it?
90 min SHOT FOR GHANA and it’s their best chance forcing a big save from … never mind. The flag goes up late on Thomas-Asante.
Panama sub: Blackman out, and it’s the longtime captain and San Diego FC player Godoy coming in.
Updated
89 min That’s not a foul? Ghanaian fans are incensed, and they may have a point. That looked like a strong nudge to the back of an attacking player in full flight.
87 min Murillo again squares up with a defender. This time, he passes back to Barcenas at the top of the arc. He fires the ball several feet high.
For Ghana: Adu replaces Ayew. That’s Prince Adu. Not Freddy Adu.
86 min Credit the Panamanian defense – they’re aggressively blocking passes and disrupting Ghana.
85 min Shot for Diaz, but he had to do a 180-degree turn from an awkward position, and it skips to Asare.
84 min A tactical wizard may be able to find some compelling reason why Panama’s passing game has degenerated, but it seems that many of their passes simply aren’t going anywhere near their targets. They were much sharper in the first half hour.
82 min A promising Panamanian counterattack ends with a ball that is chipped up into the air like a golfer in a sand trap who gets under it and sends it in a slow, sad arc to another part of the sand trap.
Panama win it back, and our referee makes an intelligent advantage call, but Panama again pass poorly.
81 min Ghana have possession deep in Panama’s half again, but they lose it quickly off their own throw-in.
80 min Panama have abandoned the press. Ghana can kick it around with impunity.
77 min Any predictions as to whether we’ll see a goal in this one? It’s not completely without interest, but neither team has shown much offensive aptitude here.
Sub for Ghana: Owusu is out. Sibo is in. He plays for Oviedo.
76 min Andrade fires a diagonal ball to the center of the 6-yard box, but it’s ahead of his teammates, and Asare collects to stop the Panama attack.
75 min Ayew loses the ball near the end line and fouls. Ghana’s attackers seem to get quite upset when dispossessed.
74 min Murillo can’t find a way past a defender, so he opts to chip the ball over the crossbar. Impatient.
Ismael Diaz enters, replacing Rodriguez.
73 min Adjetey sends a header wide off the free kick.
Now Panama move forward.
Updated
72 min Fatawu gets a step on Blackman, and the Panamanian defender fouls out of desperation. That’s a yellow card and a free kick a few yards outside the upper corner of the penalty area.
71 min Semenyo shoots (or is it a cross?) and Mosquera makes his best play of the day to throw his body on it. Ghana’s good run of form continues.
Hydration mail
“Just think it’s worth pointing out, the refereeing in almost every match so far has kept the action flowing brilliantly; very rarely falling for the usual play-acting, they are allowing physical contact to occur and generally giving the benefit of the doubt to tackles etc. It has meant matches have been played at a high pace, with momentum building up and players generally getting back to their feet quickly as soon as they realize they haven’t bought a foul. Loving it.” – Joe Neate
As a referee who can barely keep up with Under-14s, I appreciate it, too.
67 min SHOT FOR PANAMA. Ghana give the ball away too easily, and Ramos hits a low curling shot from the top of the penalty arc that misses the left post by only a few inches.
Hydrate!
66 min Ghana’s ascendancy continues, even as a player is down after a shout for a foul that went ignored.
Rodriguez squanders a promising possession at the other end.
65 min CHANCE FOR GHANA! Thomas-Asante puts a near-perfect cross at the top of the 6-yard box, and Mosquera is again nowhere near it. But Ayew, under a bit of pressure, can’t turn the ball into the net.
Updated
64 min The subs are immediately involved in the Panama attack, but a long-range shot from left back Blackman may not have been the ideal outcome. Easy catch for Asare.
63 min Subs for Panama: Waterman and Martinez are out. Universidad Catolica teammates Londoño and Fajardo replace them.
61 min Now it’s Ghana’s turn to hit the side netting, though it’s from a longer distance. It was also deflected, so we’ll have a corner. The keeper doesn’t come close to it and may be a bit lucky to see it bounce harmless through to the other side of the field.
59 min Panama’s passing simply isn’t as sharp as it was in the first half. Even when they’re not being pressed.
And as I type that, a pass (or maybe a scuffed shot) finds Martinez, whose close-range shot finds the side netting.
58 min Subs for Ghana: Fatawu and Thomas-Asante replace Sulemana and Nuamah. Thomas-Asante is a Coventry City player.
57 min Some tense midfield battles forming now. Panama get back to passing it around and the back and looking long.
Updated
55 min Oops – Panama switch off a bit and allow a counter from Ghana.
54 min Asare’s first act is to punch clear after a short corner and a high cross.
53 min Panama get back to work offensively, and Ghana are forced to head clear and concede a corner.
51 min Murillo faces up to Ghanaian attacker Sulemana, blocks his efforts to get a cross in, then dispossesses. The Atalanta player fouls with some frustration.
50 min Ghana go long, looking for Yirenkyi. His awkward shot goes about 20 feet too high.
48 min SHOT FOR GHANA. Finally. A well-worked set piece leads to a nice cross, and Adjetey rises above the crowd for a header, but it hits the ground just in front of Mosquera and is instantly smothered.
Updated
47 min Ghana look ever so slightly more potent in the attack now.
Ati-Zigi was certainly Ghana’s best player in the first half. Maybe the best player on the field.
46 min As we feared, Ati-Zigi cannot continue. Enter Asare.
One more:
“Panama are better than I expected. They aren’t pulling up trees, but there’s a pattern to their attack, with two players wide, Waterman central, and two midfielders close to the penalty box. With Ghana, I can barely tell you who’s playing up front, let alone see what they’re supposed to be doing. The Black Stars aren’t shining brightly tonight.” – Kári Tulinius
Panama have been a Concacaf power in recent years for a reason. They know what they’re doing, and they can get it done without any top-tier players.
Halftime mailbag
“‘Freshly hydrated’ by standing about in the pissing rain for three minutes, I take it?” – James Humphries
The fans are certainly hydrated.
“I’m loving this Ghanaian goalkeeper who apparently thinks he’s playing in the 1970 World Cup.” – Michael Meagher
That’s the year I was born, coincidentally.
Stat of the half: Panama have completed 277 passes. Ghana? 149.
Halftime: Ghana 0-0 Panama
The first few minutes of this game were promising. Panama had a good effort on goal, forcing a brilliant save. Ghana showed a bit of attacking acumen.
After that, the entertainment value of this one plummeted.
Updated
45 min +5 Free kick to Ghana on a dive by Semenyo.
45 min +4 No pressure from Ghana. Andrade dribbles tentatively up the left side, nearly to the midfield line.
Then he passes it back to Cordoba. Sigh.
45 min +2 Rodriguez tries to break down the left flank but is literally surrounded by four yellow shirts. He tries to draw a foul, which was probably his only option, but Ghana clear easily.
45 min We’ll have five more minutes. Not sure we really wanted them. Ghana will need to sort out their sputtering attack at halftime.
44 min Benjamin Asare, the only player on the Ghana roster who plays club ball in Ghana, is warming up to replace Ati-Zigi. He was considered a potential starter before the Cup, so perhaps this wouldn’t be a drop in quality, but Ati-Zigi has been superb in this match.
41 min Rodriguez makes a few moves on the ball, then sends a pass skipping out of bounds. Oops.
Ati-Zigi has gone down, which isn’t a good sign. The broadcast feed shows an overhead view as the physios work on Ati-Zigi’s groin. After a few awkward seconds, a director somewhere realizes this isn’t appropriate television and switches to something else.
40 min Ati-Zigi out AGAIN to stop a through ball before the wide-open Murillo can play it, and AGAIN, Panama shoot quickly with the goalkeeper stranded but can’t get the shot on frame.
38 min Ati-Zigi once again has to storm out bravely to punch a ball clear under heavy pressure. The ball lands near Ramos, who tries to shoot quickly with Ghana’s goalkeeper scrambling back to his feet, but the shot is high.
Updated
36 min We’ve seen a couple of replays now of that penalty shout. One angle makes it seem like legal shoulder contact. Another looks like an extended-arm push in the back.
34 min Is that a penalty? Long ball over the top for Martinez, and he seems to have bundled down by a defender. No call.
A few seconds later, another ball floats into the area where Ati-Zigi and a Ghanaian teammate challenge against a Panamanian attacker. Both Ghanaian players are down injured.
33 min ESPN stats show Panama defender Cordoba has already completed 43 passes out of 45 attempts. Impressive, but it also shows how little Panama have managed to move forward in recent minutes.
31 min Nothing comes of the free kick. But the hydration break seems to have altered the momentum, swinging in favor of Ghana.
30 min Panama are being forced to defend now. Yirenkyi falls after modest contact and swims his way to the ball. The late whistle goes against Panama, and Ghana have a dangerous free kick.
29 min Center … passes to wing … back to center … holds it … holds it …
27 min Freshly hydrated, Ghana’s forwards press and force an aimless pass up the field, picked off by their teammates at the back.
The dominant color in the stands is yellow – many Ghanaian fans, many people in ponchos.
23 min Cordoba leaps to win the ball over Ayew, who stays down for a few seconds while Ghana shout for a foul. They may have had a point.
Everybody hydrate!
Updated
22 min Was Colin Robinson, the energy vampire from What We Do in the Shadows, present somewhere in Toronto? The energy has been drained from this match.
20 min Ghana work their way forward and cross. Panama clear for a throw-in, then win the ball shortly thereafter, but Ghana have numbers back already.
19 min Panama have had the better of things, yes, but it has now been quite some time since they broke through in any meaningful way.
16 min Finally, Ghana have a brief spell of possession. They lose it, and Yirenkyi fouls right away before Panama can go the other way. That’s a yellow card.
Ghana are resorting to fouls far more quickly than they should. That could be a problem.
14 min Panama pass around in their own half, then launch the ball forward for Waterman, who’s marked well and can’t get to it.
13 min Ghana finally get the ball and play quickly up the right side for Nuamah, who seems close to turning the corner but can’t. He tumbles to the ground, but there’s no foul.
Updated
12 min Another half-decent chance for Panama, with a cross that skids through the penalty area but misses its target.
12 min Now it’s Panama’s half but at Panama’s feet. Ghana have not yet gotten anything going other than the occasional foul. Like that one.
10 min: Everything has taken place in Ghana’s half of the field for the last several minutes.
8 min A needless Ghanaian foul is waved off because the player who was clobbered was offside when he received the ball. Ouch.
Martinez shows the referee some cleat marks on his arm, a gift from Ati-Zigi.
6 min Panama are looking confident in the attack, both with a short-pass possession game and a long ball that forces Ati-Zigi to fight Martinez for the ball.
4 min Ghana embark on the “blast the ball forward for Semenyo” strategy. In this case, the ball goes too far and bounds out of play.
2 min CHANCE FOR PANAMA – Murillo crosses on the ground to Waterman, whose one-timer is parried by the outstretched Ati-Zigi.
Updated
2 min The referee asks Senaya to use a different ball for the throw-in than the one he planned to use.
1 min Panama pass pointlessly, possession purloined.
Peep!
It’s raining a bit in Toronto as we get started. Current temperature is 20 degrees. That’s Celsius. Canada isn’t that cold.
The kid who picked up the ball as the officials and players walked onto the field gave the camera a little wink. Priceless.
Anthems up shortly. But first, the song that makes all US sports fans of a certain age growl, “At guard, from North … Carolina … 6-6 … Michael Jordan!” Yes, it’s Sirius, by the Alan Parsons Project.
Fun fact: During the Chicago Bulls’ glory days, they often greeted the opposing team with On the Run, an instrumental and experimental track off Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. The engineer on that piece was … Alan Parsons.
Updated
Match officials …
The third team on the field (and in a room with TVs) is:
Referee: Glenn Nyberg (Sweden)
AR1: Mahbod Beigi (Sweden)
AR2: Andreas Soderkvist (Sweden)
4th: Khalid Alturais (Saudi Arabia)
Reserve: Mohammed Alabakry (Saudi Arabia)
VAR 1: Bram Van Driessche (Belgium)
Assistant VAR: Marco Di Bello (Italy)
Support VAR: Bastian Dankert (Germany)
Nyberg has worked countless Champions League and internationals with a couple of controversial moments, including a curious event in a Champions League quarterfinal when Arsenal’s Gabriel, believing the match against Bayern Munich had not restarted, picked up the ball in the penalty area. The opposing coach, one Thomas Tuchel, was not amused.
Have you tried Bracketology?
My current picks have France over Spain in one semifinal and Argentina over England in the other. I see France taking it this time.
Panama XI
A stunner in the lineup announcement: Captain Anibal Godoy is not in the XI. I haven’t seen anything about an injury. All told, five of the predicted starters in our team guide are not starting today.
The starting lineup that will face Ghana is: Mosquera; Andrade, Cordoba, Ramos, Blackman; Rodriguez, Martinez, Harvey, Murillo; Waterman, Barcenas (capt.)
While the bulk of Ghana’s roster competes in major European nations, the Panamanian team’s employers are more eclectic.
Four players are based in Mexico. Other countries in the Americas have two each – Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, the USA, Venezuela and Panama itself. Other players are in Austria, Azerbaijan, England, Honduras, Israel, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Turkey and Uruguay.
Updated
Ghana XI (note injury and visa issue)
Visa issues have hit many teams’ traveling parties as they head toward the USA, but Ghana have a curious case of a player who is welcome in the USA but not in Canada. Midfielder Thomas Partey, a longtime Arsenal player now with Villarreal, was not allowed to cross the border. Court documents show Partey had claimed he was not facing criminal charges in any country, but he is awaiting trial in London over rape and sexual assault allegations.
Mohammed Kudus and Mohammed Salisu are not on the Ghanaian roster due to injury.
The starting lineup that will face Panama is: Ati-Zigi; Mensah, Adjetey, Opoku, Senaya; Yirenkyi, Owusu; Semenyo, Sulemana, Nuamah; Ayew (capt.).
London-born Antoine Semenyo comes into the Cup after a stunning campaign in the Premier League. Jordan Ayew has 34 goals in 120 appearances but has been on a downturn along with his club, Leicester City.
Lawrence Ati-Zigi starts in goal, denying us the chance to see a player from an Irish club – Joseph Anang of St. Patrick’s Athletic.
Three players in the starting XI play for Auxerre – midfielder Elisha Owusu and outside backs Gideon Mensah and Marvin Senaya. A fourth, Ernest Nuamah, also plays in France with Lyon.
Updated
While you wait …
You may be interested to learn that there’s another match in progress at the moment, and it’s quite a sight.
Preamble
You’ll need to excuse US supporters if they shudder a bit at seeing this matchup. Both of these teams have inflicted devastating losses on the US team over the years.
Ghana eliminated the USA in two consecutive World Cups – 2006 and 2010 – before the USA exacted revenge in 2014.
Panama have been the more recent nemesis, featuring heavily in the documentary series US Against the World: Four Years with the Men’s National Soccer Team. The Central American side have beaten the USA in four of the last five meaningful matches between the countries – a World Cup qualifier in 2021, a Gold Cup semifinal in 2023, a 2024 Copa America group-stage match, and the 2025 Concacaf Nations League semifinal.
That won’t matter to the home fans here because this game is in Toronto at the smallest venue in this Cup – and that’s after 17,000 temporary seats were added.
On paper, Ghana would have to be the favorite. But ask US fans how it feels to be the favorite against Panama.
Beau will be here shortly. In the meantime, catch up on what you need to know about Ghana and Panama with our team guides.
Ghana’s performance in a warm-up match against Wales in Cardiff gave a sense of what their new coach, Carlos Queiroz, might be up to. The first half was not surprising – a leaky, low block with poorly coordinated pressing that brought back memories of the dysfunctional team Otto Addo had left behind. The second half was markedly different: a well-coordinated mid-block with synchronised pressing and better protection for the full-backs.
Drawn with England, Croatia and Panama in Group L, the Black Stars have enough talent to make an impact in North America. Their best showing so far at a World Cup? The quarter-finals in 2010.
La Marea Roja arrive in full voice. After their historic World Cup debut at Russia 2018, they mean business this time round, and want to progress from the group. With Michael Murillo leading from the back, the midfielder Adalberto Carrasquilla providing a creative spark and the captain, Aníbal Godoy, still the heart and soul of the team, Panama are ready to write a new chapter.
The realistic aim is to make it out of the group. Thomas Christiansen will want to prove they have the discipline to avoid a repeat of the 2018 6-1 thrashing by England, who are group opponents once more. A spot in the last 16 is the dream. The dressing room believes it is possible.
