Ghana’s Group stage opponents at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Panama, wrapped up their home preparations with an entertaining 4-2 victory over the Dominican Republic on Tuesday night before departing for the United States.
The farewell match, played in front of a packed home crowd, gave Thomas Christiansen’s side a confidence boost ahead of their final pre-World Cup friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Panama opened the scoring inside the first 15 minutes following a well-worked move involving Cesar Yanis, Jose Fajardo and Cristian Martinez.
After Fajardo’s initial effort was blocked, the ball fell kindly to Tomas Rodriguez, who calmly slotted home to put the hosts ahead.
The Central Americans doubled their advantage before halftime when Victor Griffith’s long-range strike took a significant deflection, leaving the Dominican goalkeeper with no chance.
Christiansen made several changes after the break, but Panama maintained their attacking threat.
Mariano Diaz pulled one back for the visitors shortly after the restart with a composed finish following a diagonal run into the penalty area.
Cecilio Waterman then capitalised on a defensive mix-up between the goalkeeper and a defender to score Panama’s third goal of the evening.
The Dominican Republic responded again with a goal from Erick Japa after a defensive lapse, but Panama had the final say as Kadir Barria capped an impressive performance by converting from close range following a pass from Erick Davis.
The victory extends Panama’s positive momentum as they continue preparations for the World Cup, where they will come up against Ghana.
The Black Stars will be closely monitoring the Panamanians, who have shown attacking quality and depth in recent outings.
Panama will now travel to the United States for a final tune-up match against Bosnia and Herzegovina before beginning their World Cup campaign.