Panama have won two of their last four games
Ghana have five defeats in their last six
Recommended bet: Panama to win @ 9/4
Panama and Ghana open their World Cup bid in the early hours of Thursday morning in Toronto and this fixture is a huge contest for both sides, given that they are joined in Group L by European heavyweights England and Croatia.
There is a good chance that these teams will be battling it out for third place and a defeat for either side would mean they would have to get something from both of their remaining games.
This is Panama’s second appearance in a World Cup and they lost all three of their group stage games when they last competed back in 2018.
Ghana have missed just one of the previous five World Cups and their best result was a run through to the quarter-finals in South Africa in 2010.
See the latest Ghana vs Panama odds on LiveScore Bet
Team news
Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey has been denied a World Cup visa by the Canadian government so he won’t be involved. Partey will remain at the team’s training base in the USA and will be able to play in the other group games.
Key man Adalberto Carrasquilla has missed Panama’s warm-up games due to injury but has trained this week and may be able to feature, potentially from the bench.
The stats
Panama reached the World Cup without losing a qualifier (W7, D3).
Ghana are winless since qualifying (D1, L5).
The Black Stars have won just one of their last seven World Cup main draw games, losing five.
Panama have only lost to Mexico (twice) and Brazil in normal time in their last 21 games.
Ghana have scored just three goals in their last six games
See the latest Ghana vs Panama odds on LiveScore Bet
Prediction
Ghana come into this game as the favourites but the Black Stars appear out of sorts and may be vulnerable to an upset against a Panama side who will feel they have a legitimate chance of making it out of the group stage.
Los Canaleros were the dominant force in Concacaf qualifying in the absence of the three tournament hosts and since then they’ve picked up some impressive results in friendlies, including a win over South Africa and a draw with Bosnia.
Panama also impressed for spells in a defeat to Brazil at the Maracana in Rio, and that level of performance might be enough to grind out a win over an out-of-sorts Ghana side who are missing the presence of Partey in midfield.
Ghana breezed through qualifying but have struggled since, with no wins and five defeats in six games since securing their place in North America.
The Black Stars have more quality within their squad but as a team Panama are greater than the sum of their parts and they look capable of recording a first ever World Cup win when they take on Ghana.
Score prediction: Ghana 0-1 Panama
