Ghana played a much better final 45 minutes to defeat Panama in their 2026 World Cup opener.
It took the Black Stars around an hour to finally get into the game. They struggled mightily until that point with the Canaleros the much better team.
They eventually got a late winner in the 95th minute thanks to Caleb Yirenkyi. But it was an English football quartet of Jordan Ayew, Antoine Semenyo, Brandon Thomas-Asante and Abdul Fatawu that carried the African side home. Let’s dig in.
How did Ghana improve from first to second half against Panama?
Panama’s dominant first half
Jordan Ayew’s aerial prowess was the only thing that worked for Ghana in the first half. They had no way out of their own defence and him battling in the air was how they managed to somewhat establish themselves in the attacking half.
That’s because Panama had them completely under control for the first 45 (60, really) minutes. Thomas Christiansen’s 3-2-5 in-possession shape countered the Black Stars’ zonal marking perfectly.
They always managed to place their players not only between the lines, but between opponents. There were passing lanes all over the pitch that enabled them to play out from the back and enter the final third via short passes.
Whenever Ghana jumped from their deep 4-1-4-1 mid-to-low block into a 4-2-4 press, the Canaleros often found one of their two centre-midfielders completely free to carry the ball forward.
They did struggle to turn those advantageous scenarios into concrete opportunities. Still, Ghanaian goalkeeper Lawrence Ati Zigi was so busy in the first half trying to anticipate long balls and crosses, that he clashed multiple times with opponents and left the game at the break.
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Ghana press ‘do better’ button in the second half
Ghana struggled mightily in the first half. Though the double substitution in 58th minute helped, with Coventry City’s Brandon Thomas-Asante and Leicester’s Abdul Fatawu coming on and changing the game, they just made their side do many of the same things from the first half – just better.
Right-winger Ernest Nuamah had a difficult time trying to take Panamanian defenders on down that flank. Him starting was a surprising choice considering the injury-riddled season he had for Lyon and Fatawu’s talent, despite it not helping the Foxes avoid relegation to League One.
The Leicester man had much more success in his individual runs down the right and gave left-wing-back Cesar Blackman a tough 30 minutes after Nuamah failed to challenge him early on.
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Thomas-Asante came on to do what Antoine Semenyo tried and failed in the later stages of the second half as a second striker playing off of Ayew.
And Semenyo found more success when he went back to playing on the wing – but with more freedom to drift inside.
Carlos Queiroz’s variations
Speaking of Semenyo, he was the personification of Carlos Queiroz’s tactical approach this game. The 73-year-old manager tried a lot of different things throughout the match.
He took over Ghana in April and had little time to implement his own ideas before the World Cup. So he started testing things on the fly.
He went back and forth from a 4-1-2-3 to a 4-4-2 in-possession, as well as from 4-2-4 to 4-4-2 to 4-1-4-1 out of possession. Semenyo started on the left wing, became a second striker on the left, then on the right, then back to left-winger.
Kamaldeen Sulemana switched from a left-winger to a left-centre-midfielder and sometimes second striker out of possession.
Queiroz wanted them to take a patient approach with the ball to invite Panama’s pressure and then find space in behind. But then quickly adapted when he noticed it wasn’t working and Jordan Ayew seemingly could not lose a single aerial duel.
Panama showed more for two thirds of the game, but couldn’t capitalise whenever they got near Ghana’s goal. Meanwhile, the Black Stars’ strong final 30 minutes were enough to give them the win.
A draw would have been bad for both sides with England and Croatia heavily favoured against them. Now, Ghana at least managed to end the first round in second place.
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