The Panama national football team (Spanish: Selección de fútbol de Panamá) represents Panama in men's international football, which is governed by the Federación Panameña de Fútbol (English: Panamanian Football Federation) 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), they 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.
Contents
History
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
In the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Panama were drawn into 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.
2026 World Cup
In the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Panama were drawn into Group L with England, Croatia, and Ghana. In their opening match against Ghana, they lost 1–0 to a 95th minute winner from Caleb Yirenkyi, despite not allowing a shot until the 48th minute of the game when they had allowed an attempt within the first 10 minutes of each of their previous World Cup matches. In addition, Panama recorded 62% possession while completing 502 passes, both all time highs in the World Cup. They were the only team to fail to score a goal in the tournament.
Team image
Home Stadium
Historically, the Rommel Fernández Stadium has served as the primary home venue of the Panama national football team and has hosted the vast majority of the country's FIFA World Cup qualifiers, international friendlies, and official tournament matches since its inauguration in 1970. Located in Panama City, the stadium is widely regarded as the spiritual home of Panamanian football and has witnessed many of the nation's most significant sporting achievements.
Throughout its history, however, the stadium has periodically undergone maintenance, modernization, and expansion projects that temporarily rendered it unavailable for international competition. During these periods, the Panama national team was required to relocate its home fixtures to alternative venues across the country.
The most notable of these relocations occurred in 2008, when the stadium underwent a major renovation and expansion project that increased its seating capacity and modernized several of its facilities, part of it attributed Irving Saladino's performance at the 2008 Summer Olympics. As a result, Panama's home matches were temporarily moved to the Rod Carew Stadium. Originally designed as a baseball venue, Rod Carew Stadium was reconfigured to accommodate football matches by adapting its field dimensions to meet FIFA requirements.
A similar situation occurred in 2021, when the Rommel Fernández Stadium underwent extensive turf replacement and pitch improvement works in preparation for the final round of the CONCACAF qualification process for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, commonly known as the Octagonal. During the renovation period, the Panama national team once again utilized the Rod Carew Stadium as its temporary home ground. The venue successfully hosted FIFA-sanctioned matches after undergoing the necessary modifications.
It is a rare occurrence for Panama to be the home team other than at the Rommel Fernández Stadium (which is the 2nd largest venue in the country). Panama has a positive record on all home matches that have been played outside of it.
Media Coverage
For the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Panama's matches are broadcast on RPC, Tigo Sports and TVMAX. Tigo Sports is the only sports network that will provide full coverage of all 104 matches in the country.
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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.
Win
Draw
Loss
Fixture
Coaching staff
Managers
Caretaker managers are listed in italics.
Players
Current squad
The following 26 players were called up to squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Caps and goals correct as of 27 June 2026, after the match against England.
Recent call-ups
The following players have been called up within the past year.
Player records
As of 27 June 2026
Players in bold are still active with Panama.
Competitive record
Head-to-head results
Updated as of 27 June 2026.
Honours
Continental
CONCACAF Gold Cup
Runners-up (3): 2005, 2013, 2023
Third place (1): 2015
CONCACAF Nations League
Runners-up (1): 2024–25
Subregional
CCCF Championship1
Champions (1): 1951
Third place (1): 1948
Copa de Naciones UNCAF / Copa Centroamericana
Champions (1): 2009
Runners-up (2): 2007, 2017
Third place (3): 1993, 2011, 2014
Central American and Caribbean Games
Silver medal (1): 1946
Bolivarian Games
Bronze medal (2): 1970, 1973
Summary
Only official honours are included, according to FIFA statutes (competitions organized/recognized by FIFA or an affiliated confederation).
Notes
Official subregional competition organized by CCCF, direct predecessor confederation of CONCACAF and the former governing body of football in Central America and Caribbean (1938–1961).
FIFA World Ranking
Last update was on 24 June 2025.
Source:
Best Ranking Worst Ranking Best Mover Worst Mover