2026 World Cup: Ghana vs. Panama, Probable Lineups

The two underdogs in Group L of the 2026 World Cup, Ghana and Panama, face off in a match that could already shape the standings behind favorites England and Croatia. The African and Central American teams, ranked 73rd and 34th respectively in the FIFA rankings, will face off at 1 a.m. Italian time on Thursday morning (7 p.m. local time) at BMO Field in Toronto. Swedish referee Nyberg will officiate the match.

Ghana, which had never qualified for the World Cup until 2002, has qualified for six of the seven subsequent tournaments, including 2026, missing out only in 2018. The all-time first World Cup match is a fond memory for the Azzurri: Italy defeated Ghana 2-0 in 2006, with goals from Pirlo and Iaquinta. The Black Stars’ best result, on the other hand, was reaching the quarterfinals in 2010 in South Africa: only a penalty shootout, at the end of a controversial match against Uruguay, prevented the Ghanaians from becoming the first African national team to reach a World Cup semifinal.

For Panama, this is their second-ever World Cup appearance, coming right after the tournament the Ghanaians missed—the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The outcome of that tournament was disappointing for the Canaleros, who were defeated 3-0 by Belgium, 6-1 by England (Panama’s first-ever World Cup goal, scored by Felipe Baloy, proved meaningless), and 2-1 in a comeback loss to Tunisia. The Panamanians qualified for the 2026 tournament by winning Group A of the third stage of CONCACAF qualifying, after beating out Suriname, Guatemala, and El Salvador.

Probable Lineups

GHANA (4-2-3-1): Zigi; Seidu, Adjetey, Opoku, Mensah; Sibo, Owusu; Williams, Ayew, Fatawu; Semenyo. Head Coach: Queiroz.

PANAMA (3-4-2-1): Mosquera; Fariña, Escobar, Cordoba; Murillo, Harvey, Godoy, Davis; Diaz, Barcenas; Fajardo. Head Coach: Christiansen.