Ghana and Panama have never met at senior international level and their Group L opener on 17 June at BMO Field in Toronto matters enormously to both sides. England and Croatia share the group, which means both nations probably need to take points off each other to have any realistic chance of advancing.
Carlos Queiroz has had less than two months to put his stamp on Ghana after taking the job in April 2026 following a difficult run of friendly results. His career spans Real Madrid, Manchester United, Portugal and Iran and his instinct tends to be defensive structure first, everything else second. Panama's Thomas Christiansen has had the luxury of time, coaching the Canaleros since 2020 and guiding them to the Gold Cup final in 2023 and the Copa América quarter finals in 2024 and the two coaches have not faced each other at international level before.
Ghana's build up was messy and Queiroz has had to find his footing quickly with a squad still adjusting to a new system after defeats to strong European sides triggered the coaching change. Panama arrive in steadier shape, a clear improvement on their 2018 World Cup group stage when they were beaten in all three matches.
Panama have the worse of it on paper, with goalkeeper Luis Mejía out with a muscle injury, captain Aníbal Godoy managing soreness, Adalberto Carrasquilla still recovering from an adductor tear and Carlos Harvey's availability doubtful. That is a lot of uncertainty in the spine of their squad. Ghana, by contrast, report no major absences and will likely line up in a 4-2-3-1 with Lawrence Ati-Zigi in goal, Thomas Partey anchoring midfield and Jordan Ayew leading the line alongside Antoine Semenyo and Iñaki Williams. Panama should set up in a compact 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 with Orlando Mosquera deputising in goal, Michael Murillo at the back and José Fajardo, Puma Rodríguez and Cecilio Waterman in attack.
Queiroz will want Partey to control the tempo and pick passes for Williams and Semenyo, whose pace should trouble Panama's wide defenders. Set pieces offer a second avenue, with the aerial presence of Partey, Ayew and others across Ghana's line up giving Queiroz a genuine threat at corners. Rodríguez and Fajardo are the outlet when Panama win the ball back and Christiansen will want his side sitting deep and turning possession over quickly to get them in behind. The Partey Godoy midfield battle, assuming Godoy is fit enough to start, is the most consequential contest on the pitch: Partey is Ghana's primary ball progressor and cutting off his supply would starve Williams and Semenyo.
This is the first senior meeting between the two nations, so there is no historical pattern to lean on. Queiroz will almost certainly try to exploit Panama's injury concerns at the back through dead balls and Ghana have the aerial threat at set pieces to make that count. The Toronto venue is neutral, which probably favours Ghana's individually stronger players over Panama, whose greatest asset is the structure and familiarity of a settled defensive shape. Conceding early would expose Panama badly given their counter attacking limitations when chasing a game.
Ghana 2-1 Panama. Queiroz's side have the better individual quality in midfield and attack and whatever settled preparation Panama might have brought is offset by real injury problems across their starting XI. The pace of Williams and Semenyo, combined with Ghana's threat from set pieces, should be enough to win narrowly.
Ryan Baldi
Football Writer
Ryan Baldi is a professional football writer with years of experience and has been featured by respected outlets such as the BBC, The Guardian, Sky Sports, DAZN, FourFourTwo, ESPN, Yahoo Sport and Football365. He has also written several books including Arsène Who?.
