10 Lowest-Ranked Teams At The 2018 World Cup

Making their World Cup debut, Panama are a surprise inclusion in this summer's tournament, but it's always exciting to see new teams and faces making their first appearances on the big stage. The tiny Central American country has a population of just 4 million, but the national team has come on well in recent years.

They very nearly qualified for the 2014 World Cup, in fact, but were narrowly defeated by the USA during qualification. During 2018 World Cup qualification, Panama had their revenge, with their results during thwarting their American rivals. Recent friendlies haven't been too positive for Panama, but most of their games tend to be quite cagey and they rarely lose by large margins.

The squad has no real standout stars, but the forward combination of Luis Tejada and Blas Pérez could prove dangerous, with the pair having scored 86 goals between them. Plenty of the Panamanian players are over 30, making this one of the most experienced squads, and they'll need all of that experience to navigate Group G, which also features England, Belgium, and Tunisia.