Panama exit the World Cup after England defeat

Panama exit after England prove too much

Panama are out of the 2026 World Cup. England beat your team 2–0 on Saturday at MetLife Stadium, and three group-stage defeats mean the journey ends here (1) (8).

Your team did not roll over. For long stretches, Panama frustrated England, no low block, no fear. Jacob Steinberg at the Guardian called it exactly that: the real worry for Thomas Tuchel was "Panama's lack of fear" (3). England laboured. But Jude Bellingham broke through, opening the scoring and running the game. Marcus Rashford added the second (1) (5).

Jose Luis Rodriguez fronted up afterwards. "Very happy with the team's performance. In the end, we didn't get the results we expected, but we competed until the end" (1).

Bellingham runs the show and England top the group

Bellingham scored, controlled the tempo, and took man of the match. England won Group L and will face DR Congo in the round of 32 (2) (5).

He called it a job done in stages. "We came here to do it in sections, and now we've achieved that first objective: to get through the group and to top it as well" (2).

He also had words for Harry Kane, who broke England's World Cup scoring record. "He's the best England player of all time," Bellingham said (11). Kane now has more World Cup goals than any other England player in history (10).

Tuchel promises more after a flat performance

Tuchel did not pretend it was pretty. The England manager admitted the win was unconvincing but gave a firm promise to improve before the knockout rounds (4).

The biggest concern sits in defence. Steinberg wrote that England's creaky back line is a World Cup worry and they need Declan Rice back to his best (3). Panama exposed that fragility, even without finding the net.

Fan reactions

The Real Madrid subreddit celebrated Bellingham's man-of-the-match display with a short and simple nod: "jude named man of the match v panama" (Reddit). No surprise there. He bent the game to his will and the fans knew it.