FIFA World Cup 2018 match updates: Panama 1-2 Tunisia

IANS photo

Moscow: Taking the lead, Tunisia defeated debutants Panama in their Group G match of FIFA World Cup 2018 on Thursday. Tunisia grabbed a consolation win after beating Panama 2-1 at the Mordovia Arena. Although Panama is all set to head back home, so far, they have played their part well.

Follow the match updates:

Fulltime! Panama 1-1 Tunisia, Belgium 1-0 England

90+6 minute: Tejada booked with a Yellow card

90+5 minute: Barcenas shoots the ball straight to the keeper who blocks it, going ground

90+4 minute: A free kick for Panama after Barcenas' shot over the wall touched Mathlouthi's arms and amounted to a handball

90+3 minute: Chalali booking for a foul on Godoy, gets Yellow card

5 minutes of stoppage time!

90 minute: Panama miss a good chance to net the ball into the Tunisian goal post

89 minute: Tunisia still having the lion's share in possession with 70 per cent 

86 minute: Substitution for Tunisia. W Khazri replaced by B Srarfi

84 minute: There have been constant freekicks. Panama look desperate to equalise their goal count while Tunisia hardly bother

80 minute: Substitution for Panama. Arroyo replaces Avila

79 minute: The referee books Gomez with a Yellow card

77 minute: Yellow card to Ricardo Avila of Panama

74 minute: Panama try to net the ball, looking to equalise their goal count. But Barcenas goal disallowed for a foul by Tejada on Meriah

72 minute: Yellow card to Tunisia's Badri

70 minute: Desperate Panama make an attempt, fires a shot but the Panama goalkeeper calmly blocks it 

68 minute: Tunisia continue to dominate the possession

Tunisia 2-1 Panama

65 minute: Goal! Tunisia hits the net again. A lovely pass received by Wahbi Khazri who kicks the ball comfortably into the Panama goal post

62 minute: Sliti passes to Khazri who enters into the box and fires a shot but Penedo blocks it

59 minute: Corner for Tunisia. Khazri shoots from the left, but Penedo clears it

56 minute: Substitution for Panama! Roman Torres replaced by Luis Tejadafor

53 minute: A brilliant attempt by Tunisia and it's Youssef again. But the ball wides off after the Panama keeper Penedo blocks it

50 minute: Goal! Tunisia equalise with Ben Youssef netting the ball

48 minute: Meanwhile, Belgium take lead, score the first goal, Belgium 1-0 England

45 minute: Tunisia kick off the second half. Substitution for Panama, Cummings replaced by G Torres

Halftime! Panama 1-0 Tunisia, England 0-0 Belgium

In the other Group G match, both England and Belgium are goalless

2 minutes of stoppage time!

45 minute: Another chance missed by Tunisia's Khazri. The credit goes to Panama keeper Penedo and a defender

43 minute: Tunesia'a first Yellow card, Sassi booked by the referee

40 minute: Tunisia's repeated attacks seem to have not giving any positive result

38 minute: A lovely move by Tunisia. After a few interplays, Ben Youssef makes a strong leap and heads the ball which goes wide off 

Panama 1-0 Tunisia!

34 minute: Goal! It takes a deflection of Meriah, wrongfoots the keeper and the ball hits the goal post

33 minute: Free kick to Panama. The player whips the ball from a long range, Mathlouthi makes a save. Rodriguez passes to Torres and then wins the ball again

30 minute:  Panama caught for offside as Rodriguez heads a throughball

27 minute: Tunisia dominate the possession with 71 per cent possession

23 minute: Tunisia's Skhiri attempts a sloppy pass, which gave Panama a good chance but they fail to take advantage of it

21 minute: The Tunisians seem to dominate the game with Panama hardly getting a chance to attack

18 minute: Tunisia was close, a good shot attempted but the Panama goalkeeper once again defended it

14 minute: A quick attempt by Tunisia who almost shot it to the right direction but no, the Panama keeper seems smart

10 minute: Machado makes a throw from the right to the penalty spot but it gets wide off by Gomez's header

8 minute: Nice interplay by Tunisia but the team lacked a final pass

5 minute: Free kick for Panama. The player swings the ball but the Tunisian goalkeeper gets hold of the ball

2 minute: Match started. Panama wear red while Tunisia are in white

Kickoff!

Lineups

Panama XI: Penedo; Machado, R Torres, Escobar, Ovalle; Barcenas, Godoy, Gomez, Avila, JL Rodriguez; G Torres

Tunisia XI: Mathlouthi; Nagguez, Meriah, Bedoui, Haddadi; Sassi, Skhiri, Chaalali; Khazri, F Ben Youssef, Sliti

But whatever the result, the young Panama squad have learned lessons and are already setting their sights on the next tournament in Qatar in 2022, coach Hernan Dario Gomez told reporters on the eve of the match. Panama and Tunisia have both been at the wrong end of the biggest scoring games of Russia 2018, with Panama being thumped 6-1 by England and Tunisia going down 5-2 to Belgium.

The Central Americans also lost 3-0 to Belgium, giving them the worst goals against record of the tournament. The two European teams play each other on Thursday with both having already qualified. But an upbeat Gomez made clear that "Los Canaleros" would still give it their all against their North African opponents in the first-ever match between the two countries. 

Panama full squad:

Goalkeepers - Jose Calderon, Jaime Penedo, Alex Rodriguez

Defenders - Felipe Baloy, Harold Cummings, Erick Davis, Fidel Escobar, Adolfo Machado, Michael Amir Murillo, Luis Ovalle, Roman Torres

Midfielders - Edgard Barcenas, Armando Cooper, Anibal Godoy, Gabriel Gomez, Valentin Pimentel, Alberto Quintero, Jose Luis Rodriguez

Forwards - Abdiel Arroyo, Ismael Diaz, Blas Perez, Luis Tejeda, Gabriel Torres

Tunisia full squad:

Goalkeepers - Farouk Ben Mustapha, Moez Hassen, Aymen Mathlouthi

Defenders - Rami Bedoui, Yohan Benalouane, Syam Ben Youssef, Dylan Bronn, Oussama Haddadi, Ali Maaloul, Yassine Meriah, Hamdi Nagguez

Midfielders - Anice Badri, Mohamed Amine Ben Amor, Ghaylene Chaalali, Ahmed Khalil, Saifeddine Khaoui, Ferjani Sassi, Ellyes Skhiri, Naim Sliti, Bassem Srarfi 

Forwards - Fakhreddine Ben Youssef, Saber Khalifa, Wahbi Khazri