Panama_at_the_FIFA_World_Cup
Panama at the FIFA World Cup
Participation of Panama's national football team in the FIFA World Cup
Panama has qualified once for the FIFA World Cup, the 2018 edition. They directly qualified after securing the third spot in the hexagonal on the final round. This meant that after 10 failed qualification campaigns, Panama appeared at the World Cup for the first time in their history.[1]
| FIFA World Cup record | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | |
 1930 |
Did not enter | ||||||||
 1934 | |||||||||
 1938 | |||||||||
 1950 | |||||||||
 1954 | |||||||||
 1958 | |||||||||
 1962 | |||||||||
 1966 | |||||||||
 1970 | |||||||||
 1974 | |||||||||
 1978 |
Did not qualify | ||||||||
 1982 | |||||||||
| 1986 | |||||||||
 1990 | |||||||||
 1994 | |||||||||
 1998 | |||||||||
  2002 | |||||||||
| 2006 | |||||||||
 2010 | |||||||||
 2014 | |||||||||
 2018 |
Group stage | 32nd | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 11 | |
 2022 |
Did not qualify | ||||||||
| Total | Group stage | 1/22 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 11 | |
- *Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.
Following a 2–1 home win over Costa Rica in the final round of the hexagonal, Panama secured their spot in Russia 2018, finishing third in the CONCACAF qualification.[2][3]
Group stage
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Belgium |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | England |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 6 | |
| 3 |  Tunisia |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 8 | −3 | 3 | |
| 4 |  Panama |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 11 | −9 | 0 |
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Seven players were fielded in all three of Panama FIFA World Cup matches in 2018, making them record World Cup players for their country.
| Rank | Player | Matches |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Édgar Bárcenas | 3 |
| Fidel Escobar | 3 | |
| Aníbal Godoy | 3 | |
| Gabriel Gómez | 3 | |
| Jaime Penedo | 3 | |
| José Luis Rodríguez | 3 | |
| Román Torres | 3 | |
At a score of 6–0 in favour of England at the 2018 World Cup, Felipe Baloy scored after a long free kick by Ricardo Avila for Panama's first World Cup goal. In the following match against Tunisia, Panama scored through an own goal by Tunisian defender Yassine Meriah.
- "The wildest night in CONCACAF history? How the U.S. exit played out". ESPN. 11 October 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
- "Phantom goal helps Panama beat Costa Rica, qualify for WC over U.S." ESPN. 10 October 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
- "Final-day drama leaves Panama smiling, USA despairing". FIFA.com. 10 October 2017. Archived from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
- "Match report – Group G – Belgium v Panama" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 18 June 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 June 2018. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
- "Match report – Group G – England v Panama" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 24 June 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 June 2018. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
- "Match report – Group G – Panama v Tunisia" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 28 June 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
- Panama at FIFA.com