Caleb Yirenkyi scored his first international goal on Wednesday night to edge Ghana past Panama in their opening game of the 2026 World Cup at the Toronto Stadium.
The strike came deep into second half stoppage time, in a game that Panama had initially dominated before Ghana found their rhythm.
Yirenkyi's winner finished off a counter-attack following Panama's push for a late decider.
But their move broke down and Brandon Thomas-Asante charged forward along the left wing and teed up Yirenkyi, who scrambled the ball into the net.
"It's what we've been practising during our preparations for the tournament," said the 20-year-old, who was voted the 2025-26 young player of the year in the Danish top flight.
"Scoring the goal is positive," he added. "But not just for me. There's great support around the team for the young players."
The goal sent the Ghanaian supporters wild. And after the team survived a few scares as Panama sought an equaliser, the Ghanaian fans exploded in celebration after the final whistle, singing and dancing in the rain.
'A very intense game'
"I feel tired," said the Ghana coach Carlos Queiroz. "That says everything about the game. It was very intense. As I said before the match, the wins in this competition are expensive but the players showed they are willing to pay high prices for wins.
"We knew Panama are a wonderful team. They are well organised, but step by step I think we started to control the game and put more pressure on them and force them to make mistakes."
Ghana's next game will be against England on 23 June in Boston. England will go into the game as Group L pacesetters after overpowering Croatia 4-2 in Dallas.
Despite that decisive victory, Queiroz says his players must remain confident. "Football is very competitive at the moment. The days of 5-0 and 6-0 are over," he said.
"There have been so many draws at the World Cup. It shows that the game is quite balanced."
Ghana, who are competing in the World Cup for the fifth time, have not reached the knockout stages since a run to the quarter-finals in 2010 in South Africa.
Then the competition was a 32-team event. But with the 2026 event in Canada, the United States and Mexico the first 48-team tournament, a last 32 round has been created for the top two from the 12 groups as well as the eight best third-placed teams.
.jpeg?w=600)
