Mexico returned to winning ways with a late goal to defeat Panama 1-0. In the Mexican national team’s first match of 2026, Mexico looked too good against an extremely defensive Panama side, but an injury-time goal with minutes to go in another game gave them the win. Even though Mexico’s game wasn’t a great one and the team still has a lot of problems, it was a worthy result. Mexico will now travel to South America, where they face Bolivia on Sunday in the final friendly of the January tour.
At the beginning of the first half, the Mexican team sent out two new players from the United States Soccer Team, Richard Ledezma and Brian Gutierrez, from the beginning. Giovanni Herbert’s right-footed shot from outside the penalty area went just wide. A great combination play ended with Obed Vargas’ putt in the uncapped area. From the corner kick, German Beltrame’s header went wide. Mexico had complete control of possession but did not pose any threat to Panama, who had a superb defense. Gutierrez took a free kick and his right-footed shot went slightly wide. Gutierrez passed into the penalty area, but Roberto Alvarado seriously misjudged and failed to touch the ball. Ledezma passed the ball and Beltrame missed the header with a header, wasting a great opportunity. Beltrame caught a great pass and had a 1-on-1 chance, but defender Ariel Arroyo knocked him down and took the ball away, squandering another opportunity. The half-time whistle blew. Although the Mexican team had the advantage, they did not create any chances and the game remained scoreless.
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At the beginning of the second half, Panama replaced Javier Rivera and Angel Caicedo with Ariel Arroyo and Ricardo Phillips. Panama dominated possession early in the first half, but it only lasted a few minutes before Mexico began to dominate the game again. Mexico replaced Alexis Gutierrez, Kevin Castañeda and Carlos Rodriguez with Roberto Alvarado, Brian Gutierrez and Obed Vargas. Beltrame passed the ball into the penalty area, but his right-footed shot failed, wasting another opportunity. Castañeda volleyed a cross into the penalty area, forcing Panamanian goalkeeper JD Gunn to make a wonderful save. After gaining time and space, Caicedo shot with his right foot from outside the penalty area and was easily saved by Mexico goalkeeper Raul Rangel. Panama replaced Abdul Knight and Gustavo Herrera with Hector Hurtado and Kadir Barea. Mexico replaced Armando Gonzalez and Eric Lira with Germans Beltrame and Marcel Ruiz. Bryan Alonso Gonzalez made a header error from a cross. Panama replaces Kechidze Lenis with Giovanni Herbert. Victor Guzman took a corner kick and his header went just wide. Alonso Gonzalez crossed into the penalty area and hit the post with a volley, but was ruled offside. Panama replaces Luis Asprilla with Omar Cordoba. Rangel’s cross into the box was cleared and he had to hit the ball. Mexico will replace Jesus Gallardo with Brayan Alonso Gonzalez. Gallardo passed the ball and Gutierrez volleyed wide. Gutierrez passed in and Gonzalez headed in, forcing Gunn to make a great save. A great combination between Gutierrez and Gallardo ended with the defender entering the box and passing the ball past Gunn and towards Rodriguez, but Richard Peralta deflected the ball into his own goal to give Mexico a 1-0 lead. It was an unfortunate game for Panama, but Mexico played well offensively and they deserved to score after dominating the game. Mexico held on to win in the final minutes of the game, ending a six-game winless streak.
It was Mexico’s first victory since the 2025 Gold Cup final after defeating Panama, and even though Mexico dominated the game, it wasn’t a great performance and although the game was mainly used to see new players in the Mexican Liga lineup, that was to be expected. Mexico faced Panama, and even at home, they were on the defensive from the beginning to the end of the game. This is to be expected, as Thursday’s Panama team is not only the smaller team in terms of players, but they should also play in this style at the World Cup as they are clearly the weaker team in the group (they are grouped with England, Croatia and Ghana). Several players looked good, with the highlight being Jesus Gallardo, but Ledezma, Brian Gutierrez and Eduardo Aguila also had strong debuts. Even more worrying was the poor performance of Beltrame and Alvarado. Mexico will now travel to face Bolivia, who have a better squad but are also not as quick as Panama and may not be as defensively focused as they prepare for World Cup qualifiers in Monterrey in March.
