With the World Cup’s opening fixture less than ten days away competing nations are putting the final touches to their preparation as they prepare to play in a series of international friendlies.
On Wednesday England’s Group G opponents, Panama, are due to travel to Oslo to take on Norway in their final fixture before travelling to the tournament in Russia.
Norway – who did not qualify for the finals – showed on the weekend that they are no pushovers with a spirited 3-2 away victory over Iceland. Premier League pair Josh King of Bournemouth and Alex Sorloth of Crystal Palace were both on the mark for the Norwegians.
Panama come into the game after battling to a nil-nil draw against a strong Northern Ireland side in their previous fixture. Michael O’Neil’s team narrowly missed out on competing at the World Cup Finals after losing their two legged play-off game to Switzerland in November.
Whereas Panama qualified for the tournament with a 2-1 win over Costa Rica in October. The victory sparked wild celebrations in the Central American nation and led President Juan Carlos Varela to declare the following day a public holiday, shutting schools and giving workers the day off.
It is the first time Panama have qualified for the World Cup but the inexperienced side are managed by a tournament veteran, the Colombian, Hernan Dario Gomez.
Gomez was head coach of Colombia for the World Cup in 1998 also led Ecuador to their first World Cup finals in 2002.
Both those campaigns ended with group-stage exits but Gomez will be hoping it will be third time lucky for his Panama side who face England on the 24th June – almost two years to the day since England were knocked out of the Euro’s by minnows Iceland.
Panama showed great resilience to reach the World Cup in dramatic fashion after the heartbreak of their 2014 World Cup campaign – which saw the team fail to qualify for the finals at the last hurdle as they conceded two late goals to the United States in their final qualifying game.
Arguably the dark horses of the competition, Gomez’s side – seeded 55th in Fifa’s world rankings –
face a tough test at the Ullevaal Stadion on Wednesday, which is reflected in the Norway vs Panama betting odds, as they come up against a Norway side that has won all three of its friendlies in 2018.
Kick off is at 18:00.