Ghana opened their Group L campaign against Panama at the BMO Field in Toronto at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The match, a fiercely competitive one saw the four-time African champions grab a last gasp win.

Panama controlled proceedings in the opening exchanges of the game with the Black Stars of Ghana mostly on the back foot in the first-half.

The second-half told a different story as the Black Stars came into the game, simply an end-to-end exciting encounter. Benjamin Asare came on for injured Lawrence Ati-Zigi.

Martinez came close to scoring the opener before Ghana captain Jordan Ayew saw Thomas-Asante’s 8-yard square pass to him cleared by Panama’s Cordoba.

The Black Stars dug in deep late in the game as Manchester City star Antoine Semenyo dropped to fight for the ball the feed passes to his fellow attackers.

One of such resulted in the winning goal. Semenyo won the ball on the halfway line before sending a through pass to Thomas-Asante.

The Coventry striker raced past his marker to pass to one superb performer Caleb Yirenkyi, who tapped home from close range, showcasing Ghana’s never-say-die attitude.

The win puts Ghana behind next opponents England, who had defeated Croatia 4-2 earlier.