Panama qualified for the World Cup undefeated in the CONCACAF qualifiers and are returning to the tournament for the first time since 2018. Thomas Christiansen is leading the team with a clear defensive strategy. The opening match against Ghana in Toronto will be a head-to-head clash between two similarly styled teams.

Manager Thomas Christiansen has named three goalkeepers for the Marea Roja: Luis Mejía, Orlando Mosquera and César Samudio. Panama is taking part in the World Cup for the second time – following their historic debut in Russia in 2018. In Group L, they face Ghana, Croatia and England. The trio of goalkeepers comprises the country’s most experienced international goalkeeper, a keeper with an unusual career path spanning four continents, and a third-tier player from the CONCACAF region with just four international caps to his name.

Mejía, born on 16 March 1991 in Panama City, is 35 years old and the most experienced goalkeeper in the squad – with over 55 international caps since his debut in 2009, he is by far Panama’s most experienced international goalkeeper. He has gone by the nickname Manotas, roughly meaning “big hands”, since his youth – and he has lived up to it on numerous major stages. His career has been spent entirely in Latin America: after early years at Tauro FC and the Uruguayan side CA Fénix, where he was briefly loaned to Toulouse FC in 2011, he moved to Club Nacional in 2015, where he won two Uruguayan league titles. Stints at Unión Española and Racing de Montevideo followed, before he returned permanently to Nacional in early 2024 for around €64,000. He has featured in nine league matches this season. With experience in the Copa América, Nations League and Gold Cup, he is Christiansen’s clear first choice.

Mosquera, born on 25 December 1994 in San Miguelito near Panama City, is 31 years old and wears his nickname, Kuty, with pride. His career path reads like a journey through the world of football: Sporting San Miguelito and Tauro in Panama, Boluspor in the Turkish second division, Always Ready in Bolivia, Carabobo and Monagas in Venezuela, Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel – and, since August 2024, Al-Fayha in the Saudi Arabian Pro League. There he has established himself as the first-choice goalkeeper: 32 appearances this season, seven clean sheets, 97 saves against strikers such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema. It was his strong performance at the 2023 Gold Cup that paved the way for his move to Israel and subsequently to Saudi Arabia. With 46 international caps, he is second choice behind Mejía – and of the three, he has the most daily training experience against world-class strikers.

Samudio, born on 23 February 1994 in Panama City, is 32 years old and has been playing for CD Marathón in the Honduran Liga Nacional since 2023. With just four senior international caps – all in the CONCACAF Nations League and friendlies between 2022 and 2024 – he is the least experienced international goalkeeper of the trio. His club career has taken him from Panamanian clubs via Independiente de La Chorrera, with whom he won the LPF in 2022, to Marathón. This season, he has made 27 league appearances, keeping three clean sheets – solid figures in a competitive Central American league. He is the third-choice goalkeeper for Panama and Christiansen’s youngest option in goal.