Panama national football team

The Panama national football team () represents Panama in men's international football, which is governed by the Federación Panameña de Fútbol () founded in 1937. It has been an affiliate member of FIFA since 1938 and a founding affiliate member of CONCACAF since 1961. Regionally, it is an affiliate member of UNCAF in the Central American Zone. From 1938 to 1961, it was a member of CCCF, the former governing body of football in Central America and Caribbean and a predecessor confederation of CONCACAF, and also a member of PFC, the former unified confederation of the Americas, from 1946 to 1961.

Panama has qualified for the FIFA World Cup twice (2018 and 2026), it scored their first goal against England.

Panama has participated thirteen times in CONCACAF's premier continental competition, the team's best performance was finishing as runners-up three times in the CONCACAF Gold Cup (2005, 2013 and 2023), and also finishing as runners-up in the CONCACAF Nations League in the 2025 finals. It participated twice in the Copa América (2016 and 2024).

Regionally, it won the CCCF Championship as hosts in 1951, and the Copa Centroamericana in 2009.

History

Before 21st century

2011 Gold Cup

In the 2011 Gold Cup, Panama was placed into Group C with Canada, United States, and Guadeloupe. They debuted with a 3–2 win over Guadeloupe. In the next match, they beat the United States 2–1. Then they tied 1–1 against Canada, winning their group for the first time in the Gold Cup. They played against El Salvador in the quarter-finals, beating them 5–3 on penalties. They played against the United States again, this time in the semi-finals, although they lost 1–0.

2013 Gold Cup

In the 2013 Gold Cup, Panama began with a 2–1 win over Mexico, with Gabriel Torres scoring both goals. In the second match, Panama beat Martinique 1–0 with Gabriel Torres scoring the only goal. With two victories, they secured their qualification to the knockout stages. Already being qualified, they tied 0–0 against Canada securing the first place in their group. They easily beat Cuba 6-1 and qualified for the semi-finals with Blas Pérez and Gabriel Torres scoring two goals each. They faced Mexico again in the semifinals and beat them 2–1 to advance to the final for the second time in the competition against the United States, which was their opponent in the 2005 final and beat them on penalties. The Panamanians could not get their revenge on them and lost 0–1 with a goal from Brek Shea.

2014 World Cup qualifying

Panama came close to advancing out of the fourth round of qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup. In their last match, which was against the United States, they led 2–1 after 90 minutes and were assured to advance to a play-off against New Zealand, but conceded two goals in stoppage time and were eliminated, with Mexico taking the playoff slot instead.

2015 Gold Cup

In the 2015 Gold Cup, Panama was drawn into Group A, along with the United States, Haiti, and Honduras. All of their games were a 1–1 draws. However this was enough to advance to the knockout stage as the best ranked third place. In the quarter-finals, they played against Trinidad and Tobago, drawing 1–1 after 90 minutes and defeating them 6–5 on penalties. They advanced to the semi-finals against Mexico; Roman Torres scored on behalf of Panama and Andres Guardado scored for Mexico. The first 90 minutes ended in a 1–1 draw; Panama was then defeated 2–1 in extra time after referee Mark Geiger gave Mexico a penalty, which Andres Guardado also scored. With this result, Panama earned the chance to play the third place playoff against the United States. The score was 1–1 after extra time and Panama won 3–2 on penalties, giving them third place. Mexico ended up defeating Jamaica in the final to crown themselves champions.

2018 World Cup qualifying

Four years after failing to qualify for the 2014 World Cup, Los Canaleros finally qualified for the World Cup after defeating Costa Rica 2−1 in their final qualifying match, which meant that the United States, who lost to Trinidad and Tobago 2–1, failed to qualify for the first time since 1986. Román Torres, who scored the winning goal in the 87th minute, was subsequently considered a national hero. The day after the match, the President of Panama Juan Carlos Varela declared a national holiday to commemorate the achievement, stating on his Twitter profile: "The voice of the people has been heard... Tomorrow will be a national holiday".

2018 World Cup

thumb|right|Panama national football team in 2024.

The national football team of Panama were drawn in Group G, together with European giants Belgium and England and the African side Tunisia. Their debut World Cup match was against Belgium, on 18 June 2018. Los Canaleros initially held on, with the score 0–0 at half-time, before eventually suffering a 3–0 loss. Six days later, Panama faced England, and this time succumbed to a 6–1 defeat; Felipe Baloy's late goal was the nation's first at a World Cup, but it was not enough to save them from elimination. A 2–1 loss to Tunisia in their final game meant that Panama finished bottom of their group - and 32nd and last in the tournament overall - having lost all three of their games and conceded eleven goals.

Team image

Kit sponsorship

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left;"

! Kit supplier

! Period

| Patrick || 1992–1996

| Reebok || 1996–1999

| Kappa || 2000–2002

| Lotto || 2002–2014

| New Balance || 2015–2023

| Reebok || 2023–present

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

2025

2026

Coaching staff

{| class="wikitable"

!style="color:#072357;background:#DA121A"|Position

!style="color:#072357;background:#DA121A"|Name

|Head coach

| Thomas Christiansen

|Assistant coach

| Francisco Javier Sánchez Jara

|Assistant coach

| Jorge Dely Valdés

|Goalkeeping coach

| Donaldo González

Managers

:Caretaker managers are listed in italics.

Romeo Parravicini (1938)
Manuel Sánchez Durán (1941)
Emel Ospino (1946)
Óscar Rendoll Gómez (1946, 1951)
Óscar Suman Carrillo (1949)
Gilberto Casanova (1950)
Moses Stern (1950)
Rogelio Díaz (1952)
Emel Ospino (1956)
José Bech Casablanca (1961, 1967)
Raúl "Che" Álvarez (1963–64)
Luis Carlos Ponce (1967)
Néstor Valdés (1969)
Renato Panay (1976)
Omar Muraco (1978)
Edgardo Bone Baldi (1979)
Luis Borghini (1980)
Rubén Cárdenas (1980)
Orlando Muñoz (1984, 1995)
Carlos Cavagnaro (1984)
Juan Colecchio (1986–1987)
Miguel Mansilla (1987–1988, 1990, 1999–2000)
Gustavo de Simone (1992)
César Maturana (1995–96)
Óscar Aristizábal (1999)
Ezequiel Fernandez (2000)
Leopoldo Lee (2000)
Mihai Stoichiță (2001)
Billy Stenning (2001–02)
Carlos Alberto da Luz (2002–03)
José Eugenio Hernández (2004–05)
Julio Dely Valdés (2006)
Víctor René Mendieta (2006)
Alexandre Guimarães (2006–08)
Gary Stempel (2008–09)
Julio Dely Valdés (2010–13, 2019)
Hernán Darío Gómez (2014–2018)
Gary Stempel (2018–2019)
Américo Gallego (2019–2020)
Thomas Christiansen (2020–present)

Players

Current squad

The following 26 players were called up to squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the pre-tournament friendly matches against Brazil and the Dominican Republic on 31 May and 3 June 2026.

Caps and goals correct as of 31 May 2026, after the match against Brazil.

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up within the past year.

INJ Withdrew due to injury / absent form the national team due to injury.

COV Withdrew due to COVID-19

PRE Preliminary squad.

RET Retired from the national team.

SUS Serving Suspension.

WD Withdrew for personal reasons.

Player records

:Players in bold are still active with Panama.

Most capped players

200px|right|thumb|[[Aníbal Godoy is Panama's most capped player with 159 appearances.]]

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:100%; text-align:center;"

!width="40"|Rank

! style="width:150px;"|Player

!width="50"|Caps

!width="50"|Goals

! style="width:100px;"|Career

|style="text-align:left;"|Aníbal Godoy

|159

|2010–present

|style="text-align:left;"|Gabriel Gómez

|147

|12

|2003–2018

|style="text-align:left;"|Alberto Quintero

|140

|2007–present

|style="text-align:left;"|Jaime Penedo

|137

|2003–2018

|rowspan=2|5

|style="text-align:left;"|Armando Cooper

|123

|2006–2022

|style="text-align:left;"|Blas Pérez

|123

|42

|2001–2018

|style="text-align:left;"|Román Torres

|121

|10

|2005–2019

|style="text-align:left;"|Luis Tejada

|108

|43

|2001–2018

|rowspan=2|8

|style="text-align:left;"|Gabriel Torres

|104

|24

|2005–2022

|style="text-align:left;"|Eric Davis

|104

|2010–present

|10

|style="text-align:left;"|Felipe Baloy

|103

|2001–2018

Top goalscorers

200px|right|thumb|[[Luis Tejada is Panama's all-time top scorer with 43 goals.]]

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:100%; text-align:center;"

!width="40"|Rank

! style="width:150px;"|Player

!width="50"|Goals

!width="50"|Caps

!width="50"|Ratio

! style="width:100px;"|Career

|style="text-align:left;"|Luis Tejada

|43

|108

|2001–2018

|style="text-align:left;"|Blas Pérez

|42

|123

|2001–2018

|style="text-align:left;" |Gabriel Torres

|24

|104

|2005–2022

|style="text-align:left;"|Luis Ernesto Tapia

|20

|77

|1960–1979

| style="text-align:left;" |Jorge Dely Valdés

|19

|48

|1991–2005

|rowspan=2|6

| style="text-align:left;" |James Anderson

|18

|23

|1938–1948

| style="text-align:left;" |Julio Dely Valdés

|18

|44

|1990–2005

|rowspan=3|8

|style="text-align:left;" |Carlos Martínez

|17

|20

|1946–1954

|style="text-align:left;"| Ismael Díaz

|17

|54

|2014–present

|style="text-align:left;"| José Fajardo

|17

|65

|2017–present

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

!colspan=10|FIFA World Cup record

!width=1% rowspan=28|

!colspan=7|Qualification record

!Year

!Round

!Position

!Squad

| 1930

| colspan=9 rowspan=2|Not a FIFA member

| colspan=7 rowspan=2|Not a FIFA member

| 1934

| 1938

| colspan=9 rowspan=8|Declined participation

| colspan=7 rowspan=8|Declined participation

| 1950

| 1954

| 1958

| 1962

| 1966

| 1970

| 1974

| 1978

| colspan=9 rowspan=10|Did not qualify

| 6

| 1

| 4

| 7

| 21

| 1982

| 8

| 0

| 1

| 7

| 3

| 24

| 1986

| 2

| 0

| 2

| 0

| 4

| 1990

| 2

| 0

| 1

| 3

| 1994

| 2

| 1

| 0

| 1

| 2

| 5

| 1998

| 8

| 3

| 2

| 3

| 14

| 13

| 2002

| 10

| 3

| 1

| 6

| 9

| 19

| 2006

| 18

| 4

| 10

| 19

| 32

| 2010

| 2

| 1

| 0

| 1

| 2

| 3

| 2014

| 20

| 8

| 7

| 5

| 31

| 18

| 2018

| Group stage

| 32nd

| 3

| 0

| 3

| 2

| 11

| Squad

| 16

| 6

| 5

| 16

| 15

| 2022

| colspan=9|Did not qualify

| 20

| 11

| 4

| 5

| 38

| 21

| 2026

| Group stage

| TBD

| 0

| Squad

| 10

| 7

| 3

| 0

| 19

| 5

| 2030

| colspan=9 rowspan=2|To be determined

| colspan=7 rowspan=2|To be determined

| 2034

!Total:

!32nd

!11

!—

!124

!45

!29

!50

!161

!183

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="text-align: center;font-size:90%;"

!colspan=2|FIFA World Cup history

!First match

| 3–0 (18 June 2018; Sochi, Russia)

!Biggest win

|—

!Biggest defeat

| 6–1 (24 June 2018; Nizhny Novgorod, Russia)

!Best result

|Group stage (2018)

!Worst result

|—

CONCACAF Gold Cup

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

!colspan=10|CONCACAF Championship / Gold Cup record

!width=120|Year

!width=100|Round

!width=60|Position

!width=20|

!width=60|Squad

| 1963||Group stage||6th||4||1||2||1||8||4||—

| 1965||colspan=9|Did not participate

|| 1967||colspan=9 rowspan=2|Did not qualify

| 1969

|| 1971||colspan=9 rowspan=2|Did not participate

|| 1973

|| 1977||colspan=9 rowspan=4|Did not qualify

|| 1981

|1985

|1989

| 1991||colspan=9|Did not participate

| 1993||Group stage||7th||3||0||1||2||3||8||Squad

| 1996||colspan=9 rowspan=5|Did not qualify

| 1998

| 2000

|| 2002

| 2003

|-style="background:silver;"

| 2005||Runners-up||2nd||6||2||3||1||7||6||Squad

| 2007||rowspan=2|Quarter-finals||6th||4||1||1||2||6||7||Squad

| 2009||7th||4||1||1||2||7||5||Squad

|-style="background:#c96;"

| 2011||Semi-finals||3rd||5||2||2||1||7||6||Squad

|-style="background:silver;"

| 2013||Runners-up||style="background:silver;"|2nd

||6||4||1||1||11||4||Squad

|-style="background:#c96;"

| 2015||Third place||3rd||6||0||5||1||6||7||Squad

| 2017||rowspan=2|Quarter-finals||5th||4||2||1||1||6||3||Squad

| 2019||7th||4||2||0||2||6||4||Squad

| 2021||Group stage||9th||3||1||1||1||8||7||Squad

|-style="background:silver;"

| 2023||Runners-up||2nd ||6||3||2||1||11||6||Squad

| 2025||Quarter-finals||5th||4||3||1||0||11||4||Squad

! Total || Runners-up || 13/28 || 59 || 22 || 21 || 16 || 97 || 71 ||—

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="text-align: center;font-size:90%;"

!colspan=2|CONCACAF Championship / Gold Cup history

!First match

| 1–1 (23 March 1963; San Salvador, El Salvador)

!Biggest win

| 6–1 (20 July 2013; Atlanta, United States)

!Biggest defeat

| 5–1 (10 July 1993; Dallas, United States)

!Best result

|Runners-up (2005, 2013, 2023)

!Worst result

|Group stage (1963, 1993, 2021)

CONCACAF Nations League

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

! colspan=21|CONCACAF Nations League record

! colspan=10|League phase / Quarter-finals

! rowspan=8|

! colspan=9|Finals

!Season

!Division

!Group

!Year

!Result

|2019–20

| 2021

|colspan=8|Did not qualify

|- style="background:#9acdff

|bgcolor="#f8f9fa"|2022–23

|bgcolor="#f8f9fa"|A

|bgcolor="#f8f9fa"|B

|bgcolor="#f8f9fa"|4

|bgcolor="#f8f9fa"|3

|bgcolor="#f8f9fa"|1

|bgcolor="#f8f9fa"|0

|bgcolor="#f8f9fa"|8

|bgcolor="#f8f9fa"|0

|bgcolor="#f8f9fa"|

| 2023

|Fourth place

|Squad

|- style="background:#9acdff

|bgcolor="#f8f9fa"|2023–24

|bgcolor="#f8f9fa"|A

|bgcolor="#f8f9fa"|6

|bgcolor="#f8f9fa"|5

|bgcolor="#f8f9fa"|1

|bgcolor="#f8f9fa"|0

|bgcolor="#f8f9fa"|15

|bgcolor="#f8f9fa"|3

|bgcolor="#f8f9fa"|

| 2024

|Fourth place

|Squad

|2024–25

|Bye

|bgcolor=silver| 2025

|bgcolor=silver|Runners-up

|bgcolor=silver|2

|bgcolor=silver|1

|bgcolor=silver|0

|bgcolor=silver|1

|bgcolor=silver|2

|bgcolor=silver|Squad

|2026–27

|colspan=8|To be determined

| 2027

|colspan=8|To be determined

!Total

!—

!16

!10

!31

!14

!—

!Total

!0 Titles

!—

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="text-align: center;font-size:90%;"

!colspan=2|CONCACAF Nations League history

!First match

| 1–4 (5 September 2019; Hamilton, Bermuda)

!Biggest win

| 5–0 (9 June 2022; Panama City, Panama)

!Biggest defeat

| 0–3 (15 November 2019; Panama City, Panama) 0–3 (21 March 2024; Arlington, United States)

!Best result

|Runners-up (2024–25)

!Worst result

|Eighth place (2019−20)

Copa América

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

!colspan=10|Copa América record

!Year

!Round

!Position

!Squad

| 2016||Group stage||12th||3||1||0||2||4||10||Squad

| 2024||Quarter-finals||7th||4||2||0||2||6||10||Squad

!Total||Quarter-finals||2/2||7||3||0||4||10||20||—

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%;"

!colspan=2|Copa América history

!First match

| 2–1 (6 June 2016; Orlando, United States)

!Biggest win

| 1–3 (1 July 2024; Orlando, United States)

!Biggest defeat

| 5–0 (10 June 2016; Chicago, United States) 5–0 (6 July 2024; Glendale, United States)

!Best result

|Quarter-finals (2024)

!Worst result

|Group stage (2016)

Copa Centroamericana

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

!colspan=9|Copa Centroamericana record

!Year

!Round

!Position

| 1991||Preliminary round||5th||2||1||0||1||2||3

|- style="background:#cc9966"

| 1993||Third place||3rd||3||0||1||2||1||5

| 1995||Fifth place||5th||2||0||0||2||0||3

| 1997||Fifth place||5th||2||0||0||2||0||7

| 1999||colspan=8|Did not participate

|- style="background:#9acdff;"

| 2001||Fourth place||4th||3||0||1||2||3||6

| style="border: 3px solid red"| 2003||Fifth place||5th||5||1||1||3||4||5

|- style="background:#9acdff;"

| 2005||Fourth place||4th||4||1||0||3||1||5

|- style="background:silver;"

| 2007||Runners-up||2nd||6||4||1||1||5||2

|- style="background:gold;"

| 2009||Champions||1st||4||2||1||1||2||3

|- style="background:#cc9966"

| style="border: 3px solid red"| 2011||Third place||3rd||5||4||0||1||7||1

| 2013||Fifth place||5th||2||0||2||0||1||1

|- style="background:#cc9966"

| 2014||Third place||3rd||3||2||1||0||5||2

|- style="background:silver;"

| style="border: 3px solid red"| 2017||Runners-up||2nd||5||3||1||1||4||2

!Total||1 Title||13/14||46||18||9||19||35||45

CCCF Championship

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

!colspan=10|CCCF Championship record

!Year

!Round

!Position

|- style="background:#9acdff;"

| 1941||Fourth place||4th||4||1||1||2||11||16

| 1943||colspan=9|Did not participate

| 1946||Round-robin||5th||5||1||1||3||5||16

|- style="background:#cc9966"

| 1948||Third place||3rd||8||4||0||4||19||24

|- style="background:gold;"

| style="border: 3px solid red"| 1951||Champions||1st||4||3||1||0||13||3

| 1953||Round-robin||7th||6||0||1||5||6||16

| 1955||colspan=9|Did not participate

|- style="background:#9acdff;"

| 1957||Fourth place||4th||4||1||0||3||3||8

| 1960||colspan=9|Did not participate

| 1961||Round 1||7th||4||1||0||3||3||11

!Total!!1 Title!!7/10!!35!!11!!4!!20!!60!!94

Head-to-head results

Updated as of 31 March 2026.

{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible collapsed" style="text-align: center; font-size: 100%;"

!scope=col|Opponent

!scope=col|

|-bgcolor=#CCFFCC