Key events
Panama have made three changes to their starting XI after the 1-0 defeat to Croatia. Fidel Escobar and Jorge Gutiérrez replace Jiovany Ramos and César Blackman at the back, while up front José Fajardo makes way for Tomás Rodríguez. Panama will hope to, at some point, send on Adalberto Carrasquilla, their beating heart and playmaker, who has yet to play at this World Cup.
As expected, England have made five changes to the side that started the goalless draw with Ghana earlier in the week. Reece James is hamstrung, so in comes Jarell Quansah at right-back. Nico O’Reilly reclaims the left-back spot from Djed Spence. Declan Rice is rested, to save his back; he’s replaced by Morgan Rogers in a more attack-minded midfield. And up front, Noni Madueke and Anthony Gordon are replaced by Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford, who livened things up late on against Ghana.
The teams
Panama: Mosquera, Murillo, Escobar, Cordoba, Andrade, Gutierrez, Martinez, Barcenas, Harvey, Jose Luis Rodriguez, Tomas Rodriguez.
Subs: Mejia, Samudio, Blackman, Farina, Carrasquilla, Diaz, Ramos, Davis, Fajardo, Waterman, Quintero, Godoy, Yanis, Londono, Miller.
England: Pickford, Quansah, Konsa, Guehi, O’Reilly, Bellingham, Anderson, Saka, Rogers, Rashford, Kane.
Subs: Rice, Stones, Dean Henderson, Trafford, Chalobah, Jordan Henderson, Burn, Mainoo, Gordon, Watkins, Madueke, Eze, Toney, Spence.
Referee: Abdulrahman Al Jassim (Qatar).
England have taken the weather with them. As you can ascertain from the photo, it’s been tipping down for hours in East Rutherford, New Jersey. A home from home, then! (If we factor out the current heatwave sweeping the UK, that is, but let’s not pull at threads, you get the gist.) Happily there’s no expectation of electrical activity or anything else that would cause Fifa to get their protocols on. The only stoppages tonight, god willing, will be those ever-popular Hydration Breaks. Small mercies.
It’d also be remiss of me not to mention the plight of Scotland.
Sigh.
They’re still not technically out of it, although they need Groups J, K and L to play nice if they’re to survive. The chances of that happening currently stand at a whopping 0.07%, but that last point-zero-seven chunk will be ruthlessly shaved off should Ghana fail to beat Croatia by at least three goals in tonight’s other Group L match. No point concerning ourselves with the other necessary criteria for survival just yet, then.
“Too right it’s on, Scott,” comes the brave response to all that from Simon McMahon. “I’ve got my Ghana, Uzbekistan, DR Congo, Algeria and Austria fifth-and-fifth scarf on already. Come on Scotland! It’s coming home, baby!”
As for England … well, small sample, but the ups have been more pronounced than the downs, to be fair. A win and a draw, enough to guarantee qualification for the knockouts after Spain’s victory over Uruguay last night. The first, albeit lowest, hurdle already cleared without too much undue fuss.
Here’s how Panama have done so far. If you’re going to lose both matches and not erode confidence, two gutsy displays against fancied opposition is the only way to do it.
That low block, then. It’s proving quite the puzzle. But don’t worry! Some of the top managerial minds in the world – Thomas Tuchel and Emma Hayes, to be precise – are on it.
England’s opposition tonight. Bone up on the team that started this tournament as the 33rd best in the world with our team and player guides. Start with their star man Michael Amir Murillo and click on through …
Rashford, Saka, Rogers and Quansah expected to start
… and there’s some early team news from our man on the spot. Over to you, Jacob Steinberg …
Hello from New Jersey. Word is filtering through that Marcus Rashford is to replace Anthony Gordon on the left when England face Panama later. Jarell Quansah is also expected to make his World Cup debut, replacing the injured Reece James at right-back. Bukayo Saka is in line to replace Noni Madueke and in an attacking move it seems Morgan Rogers will come in for the rested Declan Rice and link with Jude Bellingham as Tuchel tries to find a way to break down Panama’s low block.
Preamble
England recorded their biggest-ever World Cup win against Panama at the 2018 tournament. A 6-2 rout sent Gareth Southgate’s side on their journey to a fourth-place finish; Harry Kane’s hat-trick went a long way to securing his Golden Boot. And so here we are again … except last time, Panama were ranked 55th in the world, but now they’re ranked 42nd, and that after falling eight places in the wake of their 1-0 defeat to Croatia. Panama also gave Ghana a good game in their Group L opener, so while most observers expect England to do the business tonight, the current iteration of the Red Tide – runners-up to Mexico at both the previous Concacaf Gold Cup and Nations League – are no pushover. England will hope to bounce back from their struggles against Queirozball earlier in the week; should they do so, they’ll deserve the plaudits that will come their way, and hope it’ll be a good omen for another deep run. Kick-off is at 10pm BST, 5pm EDT, 7am AEST. It’s on!
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