Ghana's national team wins against Panama with a last-minute goal.

The Ghana national team achieved a last-minute victory over Panama with a score of 1-0 today, Thursday, in Toronto, during the first round of the twelfth group matches of the 2026 World Cup held in North America.

Kaylib Yirenki scored the winning goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time, sealing a match characterized by intensity and strength between the two teams. The "Black Stars" team secured second place in the group behind England, which defeated Croatia 4-2 earlier in Dallas.

This victory marks the second for an African team in the current edition, following Ivory Coast's win over Ecuador with a score of 1-0 in the fifth group matches.

Additionally, Portuguese Carlos Queiroz became only the third coach to lead teams in five different editions of the World Cup, as Ghana began its fifth participation in the tournament.

The "Black Stars" missed the services of midfielder Thomas Partey (33 years old), the former Arsenal player and current Villarreal player, after Canada refused to grant him a visa to enter its territory due to allegations of rape in Britain.

On the other hand, Panama failed to break the curse of its disappointing first participation in the 2018 World Cup, when it lost all its group stage matches and conceded 11 goals, the highest number of goals in that edition.

The "Los Canaleros" team, led by coach Thomas Christiansen, is participating in the World Cup for the second time in its history, having been one of only two teams that did not suffer any defeats during the CONCACAF qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, achieving seven wins and three draws.

Panama was the more dangerous side during the first half, but was thwarted by the brilliance of Ghanaian goalkeeper Lawrence Ati-Zigi, who saved a shot from Cecilio Waterman just two minutes after the whistle, before shining again against Amir Murillo in the 39th minute.

Giovanni Ramos also fired a powerful shot that went over the crossbar after following up on a ball cleared by the Ghanaian goalkeeper in the 38th minute.

In contrast, Ghanaian striker Antoine Semenyo, a Manchester City player, seemed far from his usual level, as his attacking threat was absent in front of the Panamanian goal.

Ghana received a psychological blow at the start of the second half, as goalkeeper Ati-Zigi had to leave the field after the break, with Benjamin Asari replacing him between the posts.