Ghana defeated Panama by a minimum of 1:0 in the first match of today's June 18 (Thursday) of the 2026 World Cup.
The winning goal fell in the most dramatic way possible, after the match was heading towards a goalless draw, but deep into added time the Ghanaians struck a crushing blow through Caleb Irenki (90';+5').
This was the second clash on the program of group "L", after earlier this evening England beat Croatia 4:2 in a super show.
So after the first spin in the group the leaders are "the three "lion" because of their better goal difference compared to the "black stars". The Panamanians, on the other hand, failed to win a historic first point in world football finals, but they occupy third place, which gives them the right to participate in the direct eliminations under certain circumstances. The Croatians, on the other hand, who have a silver and bronze medal from the last two World Cups (2018 in the Russian Federation and 2022 in Qatar), are in the last fourth position, which would mean the end for the "fire" if they remain there after the end of the group stage.
This was also the penultimate match of the first round in the group stage of the 2026 World Cup. Immediately after it, the match between Uzbekistan and Colombia started, which officially ends the first round in the groups between the finalists of the championship on the planet.
The match between Ghana and Panama was among the matches of the World Cup that are taking place on the territory of Canada, with the clash taking place at "BMO Field" in Toronto.
In the starting lineup of Ghana, surprisingly or not, one of the team's big stars, Inaki Williams, who started the match on the bench, was absent. However, Antoine Semenyo, who is one of the main players of the English vice-champion Manchester City, was on the line for the first referee's signal.
Among the starting players of Panama, coach Thomas Christiansen did not have a single player from the top 5 European championships. However, the first referee's signal was heard by Michael Murillo, who represents one of the renowned clubs on the Old Continent, the Turkish giant Besiktas.
The Panamanians could have taken the lead after less than two minutes of play, when Cecilio Waterman hit a very quality shot from the move. However, African goalkeeper Lawrence Ati was careful and kept his net dry.
In the following minutes, the symbolic guests took advantage of the initial momentum and imposed pressure. However, the Ghanaians used their big weapon in the form of speed and very quickly covered the empty spaces to prevent a dangerous shot.
Half an hour after the start, Carlos Queiroz's team had a chance to create something different from a static situation after a direct free kick, but the Panamanians held out, and the subsequent build-up by the "black stars" was more than unsatisfactory.
In the 34th minute, there was a discussion moment, after once again a long pass found a footballer in a red sports team behind the back of the African defense and Christian Martinez fell in the penalty area during a dispute for the ball with Jerome Opoku. The head referee Glenn Nyberg judged in real time that there was no violation of the game and even refused to review the situation through the VAR system.
The last opportunity before the break was a new chance from a direct free kick for the Ghana players. It was taken by Jordan Ayew, who, however, did not have the courage to shoot and made an ineffective cross.
The second half started with a comical moment and the players played the kick from the center and the Swedish referee Glenn Nyberg was uncompromising and ordered it to be retaken.
In the 48th minute, the Africans took the first accurate shot of the match. It was the work of Jonas Adjei Adjei, who intercepted a cross with his head.
This situation acted as a catalyst for the opposing side and the Panamanians started their next siege of the opponent's goal. It culminated in the 60th minute, when the "reds" created their most meaningful situation and midfielder Christian Martinez found himself dangerously close to the rival goalkeeper Lawrence Ati, but he could not find the frame of the goal and in the end the ball licked the net on the wrong side.
In the 62nd minute, the Ghanaians responded with a dangerous run towards the opponent's goal and a corner kick, which turned into another untenable action in the foreground by the players in the yellow sports team.
In the 66th minute, Christian Martinez became the big hero for his team, intercepting a jewel-like cross into the penalty area by the Africans at the last moment. In the counterattack, he missed a golden opportunity to open the scoring for Panama.
Six minutes later, the first yellow card of the match was shown to a Panama player, which was for Blackman. Just a few seconds later, Ghana's most active player on the field, Adjetey, intercepted a cross into the penalty area, but the ball went wide of the left post.
Seconds before the end of regular time, Brandon Thomas-Asante took one of the few accurate shots for Ghana during the match, which, however, did not even go into the statistics, as the linesman's flag was raised for offside.
This led to the continuation of the match, when both teams went to the bank in search of the opening goal. Carlos Queiroz's team was more fortunate and managed to snatch the three points after an attack completed by Caleb Irenki.
The drama was complete, as immediately after the execution of the center, the Panamanians reached a corner kick, in which even the goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera went into the penalty area of the Africans in the hope of helping his team to win a debut point at the world football finals. However, this did not happen, and the Ghanaian goalkeeper Ati. was injured, the game was temporarily stopped and the Africans gained valuable time, which turned out to be very important in psychological terms and they kept their lead for very important three points. In this way, they will be able to face the upcoming clash against England on June 23 (Tuesday) at 23:00 Bulgarian time with more self-confidence. Just a few hours later at 2:00 on June 24 (Wednesday) will be the clash between Panama and Croatia, which could be crucial for the future of the group.
GHANA 1:0 PANAMA
1:0 Caleb Irenki (90'+5')
WORLD CUP 2026, GROUP PHASE
GROUP "L", ROUND I
STARTING LINE-UPS
GHANA: 1. Lawrence Ati, 26. Marvin Senaya, 4. Jonas Adjei Adjei, 18. Jerome Opoku, 14. Gideon Mensah, 11. Antoine Semenyo, 15. Elisha Owusu, 3. Caleb Irenki, 24. Ernest Nouma, 22. Kamaldine Soulemana, 9. Jordan Ayew
COACH: Carlos Queiroz
PANAMA: 22. Orlando Mosquera, 16. Andres Andrade, 13. Giovanni Ramos, 3. Jose Cordoba, 23. Michael Murillo, 14. Carlos Harvey, 6. Christian Martinez, 2. Cesar Blackman, 11. Yoel Barcenas, 18. Cecilio Waterman, 7. Jose Luis Rodriguez
COACH: Thomas Christiansen