Dely Valdés says Panama’s World Cup showed promise despite losses

Felipe Baloy scored Panama’s first World Cup goal in a 6-1 loss to England in Nizhny Novgorod, but Julio César Dely Valdés said the team’s play in Russia 2018 showed more than the standings reflected. Panama finished its first World Cup with three defeats, 2 goals for and 11 against, a record that captured the results but not always the resistance.

That tension sat at the center of Panama’s run through Group G, where the Selección de fútbol de Panamá faced Belgium, England and Tunisia. The campaign began with a 3-0 defeat to Belgium in Sochi on 18 June 2018, against a side led by Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne, Dries Mertens and Yannick Carrasco. Six days later, England overwhelmed Panama 6-1, with Harry Kane scoring a hat-trick and becoming the first England player to do so at a World Cup since Gary Lineker against Poland in 1986.

Baloy’s goal in the 78th minute did little to change the scoreline, but it gave Panama a moment that had never existed before. It was the country’s first goal in a World Cup, coming after England had already built a 6-0 lead. For Panama, that detail underlined both the scale of the challenge and the significance of simply getting onto the score sheet on football’s biggest stage.

Dely Valdés, who coached Panama from 2010 to 2013, had argued before the tournament that the World Cup represented “un antes y un después” for Panamanian football. He also urged the squad to “disfrutar” the experience, a view shaped by how close he had once come to taking Panama to Brazil 2014, when a late United States goal knocked the team out in stoppage time. That near miss and the eventual breakthrough in October 2017 framed the emotional weight of Russia 2018.

Panama clinched qualification on 10 October 2017 with a 2-1 victory over Costa Rica, sealed by Román Torres in the 88th minute. The national celebration reflected years of waiting, with Panama finally reaching its first World Cup after 10 failed attempts. In Russia, the scoreline said zero points, but the broader picture was a debut campaign that gave Panama history, a first goal and a harder question about how much progress can be measured when elite margins decide everything.