Late goal gives Mexico victory over Panama in first match of 2026

Mexico returned to the winning road after a late goal gave them the 1-0 victory over Panama. In the first match of 2026 for the Mexican National team, Mexico was overly superior against an extremely defensive Panama but were minutes from another tie before a injury time goal gave them the win. It was a more than deserved result although it wasn’t a great match by Mexico and there are still a lot of questions surrounding the team. Mexico will now travel to South America where they will face off against Bolivia on Sunday in the last friendly of their tour January tour.

The first half started with Mexico coming up with the the two new players from the USSF setup, Richard Ledezma and Brian Gutierrez, from the start. From way outside the area, Giovany Herbert would get off a right footed shot that would go just wide. A great combination play ended with a push on Obed Vargas in the area that wasn’t called. Off a corner kick, the cross into the area was headed wide by German Berterame. Mexico was completely dominating possession but weren’t creating any danger against a Panamanian team that was ultra defensive. Off a free kick, Gutierrez would get off a great right footed shot that would go just wide. A great cross into the area by Gutierrez was badly misjudge by Roberto Alvarado, who failed to make contact with the ball. A great cross into the area by Ledezma was headed wide by Berterame, wasting a great opportunity. Off a great pass, Berterame had a chance for a 1 vs 1 but defender Ariel Arroyo was able to knock him down and take the ball away, wasting another chance. The halftime whistle blew and although Mexico had been overly superior, they hadn’t created chances and the match remained scoreless.

The 2nd half started with Panama subbing out Ariel Arroyo and Ricardo Phillips for Javier Rivera and Angel Caicedo. Panama started the half by dominating possession but it only lasted a couple of minutes before Mexico once again started dominating the match. Mexico subbed out Roberto Alvarado, Brian Gutierrez and Obed Vargas for Alexis Gutierrez, Kevin Castañeda and Carlos Rodriguez. A great pass into the area was lowered by Berterame but he whiffed on his right footed shot, wasting another chance. A cross into the area was volleyed by Castañeda, which forced a good save from Panama’s goalkeeper, JD Gunn. After being given the time and space, Caicedo got off a right footed shot from outside the area that was easily saved by Mexico’s goalkeeper, Raul Rangel. Panama subbed out Hector Hurtado and Kadir Barria for Abdul Knight and Gustavo Herrera. Mexico subbed out German Berterame and Marcel Ruiz for Armando Gonzalez and Erik Lira. A cross into the area was badly headed by Bryan Alonso Gonzalez. Panama subbed out Giovany Herbert for Kahiser Lenis. Off a corner kick, Victor Guzman got a header that would go just wide. A cross into the area would be volleyed by Alonso Gonzalez and hit the post but it was ruled offside. Panama subbed out Omar Cordoba for Luis Asprilla. A cross ito the area was cleared by Rangel, who had to go and punch the ball. Mexico would sub out Brayan Alonso Gonzalez for Jesus Gallardo. A cross into the area by Gallardo was volleyed wide by Gutierrez. A cross into the area by Gutierrez would be headed by Gonzalez, forcing a good save from Gunn. A great combination play between Gutierrez and Gallardo, ended with the defender getting into the area and getting a pass that went past Gunn and towards Rodriguez but instead, Richard Peralta deflected the ball into the goal for an own goal that gave Mexico the 1-0 lead. It was an unfortunate play by Panama but it came off a great offensive play from Mexico , who deserved the goal after their dominating play. Mexico held on the last minutes of the match and got their victory that ended their winning less streak at 6 matches.

For the first time since the 2025 Gold Cup final, Mexico would get a victory after defeating Panama, It wasn’t a great performance even when Mexico dominated the match although it was expected with the match being mostly used for seeing new players in an all Liga MX squad. Mexico faced a Panama side that even when they were at home, went on the defensive side from the start of the game until the end. It was as expected as not only is Panama the lesser squad in terms of players on Thursday but they should play in this style in the World Cup as they are clearly the lesser team in the Group (they are in a group with England, Croatia and Ghana). A couple of players looked good with the bright spot being Jesus Gallardo but also strong debuts from Ledezma, Brian Gutierrez and Eduardo Aguila. More worrisome would be the poor performances from Berterame and Alvarado. Mexico will now travel to face off against Bolivia, which would have a better squad but are also not as fast and will probably won’t be as defensive minded as Panama, as they are preparing for their World Cup qualification in March in Monterrey.