Panama 0-2 England: FIFA World Cup Match Report

For forty-five minutes Panama were holding England to a goalless draw, the same position they had reached against Croatia four days earlier. It ended the same way. Panama 0-2 England was decided entirely after the interval, and the two goals sent England through as group winners while confirming Panama as the only side in Group L not to score at any point in the tournament.

England's own record here is worth noting. They opened with a 4-2 win over Croatia, then drew 0-0 with Ghana, and arrived needing a result to be certain of first place. Two second-half goals against a side yet to score gave them six scored and two conceded across the group — comfortable enough, but built on one high-scoring match and two controlled ones rather than sustained dominance.

Panama finished with the bleakest line of any team at the tournament: played three, lost three, scored none, conceded four. Against Croatia and again against England they reached the interval level and lost after it, and both of those opponents qualified. They were not overwhelmed at any stage — four goals conceded in three matches is a respectable defensive return — but they never once threatened at the other end, and no amount of resistance covers that.

First place in Group L. England finished on seven points, Croatia on six after a 2-1 win over Ghana the same day, and the margin between them was exactly the three points England took here. Ghana ended on four and Panama on zero.

England's tournament ran a long way from there. They reached the semi-finals, where Argentina beat them, and then won the third-place play-off 6-4 against France. The foundation was a group won without ever conceding more than twice in a match. For Panama the group ends with the total they started with: three fixtures against England, Croatia and Ghana, no points, no goals, and the only consolation that two of those three went through and the third conceded just twice all group.

Our pre-match call was Double Chance 1X (Panama or Draw) at 1.42. It was live at half-time and gone by full time, for the second match running.

Backing Panama not to lose against a side that had drawn 0-0 with Ghana in the previous round was a defensible read of England's scoring form, and the goalless first half suggested it might hold. What made the position unsustainable was Panama's own record. A double chance needs the underdog either to win or to draw, and a team that finished the tournament without a single goal can only ever deliver the goalless version of that. They managed it for forty-five minutes here and forty-five against Croatia, and never any longer. Verdict: lost