Panama seeks first World Cup goal against England, says defender

Panama faced England on Saturday, June 27, at 21:00 at New York/New Jersey Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the final match of Group L at the FIFA World Cup 2026. Panama had already been eliminated after 1-0 defeats to Ghana and Croatia, while England had already secured its place in the next round.

For José Luis Rodríguez, the stakes went beyond a last result. The defender said, “Queremos darle a la gente el triunfo que merece,” and framed Panama’s aim as finishing with pride, adding that the team wanted to collect points and score its first goal at the 2026 tournament. That goal carried symbolic weight for a side trying to leave the competition with something tangible after two narrow losses and a group stage that offered almost no margin for error.

The match also carried memory from Panama’s first World Cup appearance. In Russia in 2018, Panama lost 6-1 to England and 2-0 to Belgium, but Felipe Baloy scored the country’s first goal in World Cup history in that defeat to England. Saturday’s meeting was a repeat of that encounter, and for Panama it offered the chance to turn a familiar opponent into a defining moment rather than another painful reference point.

Panama named its 26-man squad on May 26, and the final days of preparation were not without tension. José Luis Rodríguez and Cecilio Waterman were involved in a brief training-ground altercation before the England match, a scene that drew attention because of how much Panama needed composure. Thomas Christiansen brushed it off as a sign of competitive intensity, not a distraction, and the coach wanted that edge carried into the match itself.

With England already through and Panama already out, the scoreboard could not change the standings. It could still decide whether Panama left the tournament with the first point it had chased and the first goal its defender said the country deserved.