Los Canaleros Are Going to the World Cup

And we want every visitor in Panama this June to celebrate with us — the way only Panamanians know how.

There are moments that stop a country in its tracks. That make strangers embrace on street corners. That fill living rooms and bars and plazas with a single shared heartbeat. For Panama, the FIFA World Cup is one of those moments — and this June, we get to live it again.

Panama's national team, Los Canaleros, have qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. For only the second time in history. And this time, we didn't just sneak through — we topped our qualifying group, winning our first-ever matches on Guatemalan and Salvadoran soil, and finishing the CONCACAF Final Round undefeated. This team earned it. Panama earned it.

For those of us who call this country home, it's hard to overstate what that means. Panama is a small nation — a little over 4 million people — wedged between two oceans at the bottom of Central America. We built the canal that stitched the world together. We are the bridge of the Americas. And when our football team steps onto the biggest stage in the world, we don't just send eleven players. We send all of us.

Group L: Three Games, One Nation

Panama has been drawn into Group L alongside England, Croatia, and Ghana. On paper, it's a tough group. In reality, it's exactly the kind of challenge this squad has been built for — disciplined, organized, dangerous on the counter, and fueled by something no tactical system can manufacture: national pride.

The group stage runs across three unforgettable match days. Here's when Panama plays — and when Panama City will be electric:

🏆 Panama — Group L Fixtures · FIFA World Cup 2026

Ghana 🆚 Panama

Wednesday, June 17 · BMO Field, Toronto · 7:00 PM ET

6:00 PM Panama Time

Panama 🆚 Croatia

Tuesday, June 23 · BMO Field, Toronto · 7:00 PM ET

6:00 PM Panama Time

Panama 🆚 England

Saturday, June 27 · MetLife Stadium, New Jersey · 5:00 PM ET

4:00 PM Panama Time

Three evenings (and one afternoon) when Panama City will transform. When every bar, restaurant, and open plaza becomes a living room shared by thousands. When the flag appears on car windows, apartment balconies, and school bags. When strangers become friends and the whole country speaks one language.

What This Means To Us

At The Panama Tours Company, we have spent years sharing Panama with the world — its history, its landscapes, its waterway, its warmth. But football is something different. Football is Panama unfiltered. It is who we are when nobody is performing for the cameras, when the city stops being a destination and just becomes a place where people live and feel and shout and cry and celebrate together.

We are proud of our country every single day. But on World Cup match days, that pride has a sound. It has a color. It has a rhythm that you can feel in your chest three blocks from the nearest screen.

And if you are visiting Panama this June — whether you're here for a vacation, a work trip, or just passing through — we want you to feel it too.

On each of Panama's three match days — June 17, June 23, and June 27 — we are inviting our guests and visitors to join us for special watch party experiences. These are not organized tourist events. They are real Panamanian moments, and you are warmly welcome to be part of them.

Think of it as a window into how Panama actually lives. Here's what we're planning:

Traditional Food Spread We'll have Panamanian food the way it's actually eaten on match days — sancocho, patacones, ceviche, and cold chicha. Nothing fancy. Everything real.	Meet Real Panamanians Watch alongside our local team, their families, and guests who love this country. Ask anything. Learn the chants. Understand why this matters so much to us.
Music & Atmosphere Before kickoff, we'll have Panamanian music — salsa, reggaeton, típico — and the kind of pre-match atmosphere that you only find in countries that actually play in the tournament.	The Story Behind the Game We'll tell you about the players, the qualifying campaign, and why this group of men wearing that red, white, and blue kit means so much to a country of four million people.

These gatherings are open to any of our guests who are in Panama on those dates and interested in joining. Just a group of people sharing a country's biggest sporting moments — and wanting to share them with you.

If you're already booked on a tour with us around those dates, just let us know you'd like to join. If you're planning a visit to Panama in June and want to time it around a match day, reach out to us — we'll help you plan your stay around it. And if you're simply curious about what Panama is like when football is on, this is your invitation to find out.

More Than A Game

We often tell visitors that the best way to understand Panama is not to see it, but to feel it. The Canal is extraordinary. The Casco Viejo is beautiful. The cloud forests and the coastlines will take your breath away. But none of those things will show you Panamanians the way a World Cup match day will.

For ninety minutes plus stoppage time, the masks come off. The commerce stops. The noise on the streets is replaced by the noise inside the screens. And when something good happens — when Carrasquilla curls one into the top corner, when Fajardo holds up a ball and turns a defender, when the goalkeeper makes a save that keeps the dream alive — the city exhales all at once.

That is Panama. And Los Canaleros going to the World Cup is Panama's gift to itself. We are just grateful to share it with anyone willing to receive it.

Match day details, meeting points, and timing will be confirmed closer to each fixture. To express your interest or ask about timing your Panama visit around a game day, contact us here or reach us on WhatsApp. ¡Arriba Panamá! 🇵🇦