Friday brought more turmoil for Panama’s already troubled World Cup journey, and this time it wasn’t due to another defeat.
Ahead of their showdown with England on Saturday, the winless team experienced chaos as a practice session erupted into violence when teammates Cecilio Waterman and José Luis Rodríguez got into a heated argument.
Tensions flared as Waterman confronted Rodríguez, leading to a physical altercation. The two exchanged pushes and shoves, and at one point, Waterman swiped his arm in a fit of anger as another player tried to defuse the escalating situation.
The conflict intensified as Waterman pointed aggressively and chased after Rodríguez, though their teammates managed to intervene, continuously restraining Waterman until the situation calmed down.
Cup 2026 Group L match June 17. FIFA via Getty Images
With the altercation finally settled, the training session resumed and continued in an open setting.
Panama manager Thomas Christiansen was a fan of what transpired during practice.
“This is a normal situation,” Christiansen told reporters. “I would have liked to see it more often, it means the team is alive, they are willing to do a good effort and being in the squad fighting for the first XI.”
Panama’s game against England won’t matter, as the former clinched last place in Group L with losses to Ghana and Croatia, where it failed to score a goal.
Panama opened the Group Stage with a competitive 1-0 loss to Ghana, where goalie Orlando Mosquera largely held Ghana in check, but their offense fell flat.
It was more of the same on Tuesday, when Panama fell to Croatia 1-0.
Even though Panama is eliminated and won’t be playing in the tournament, Christiansen still wants his team to put its best foot forward against England.
“[England] is probably the toughest opponent in the group. Our goal is to compete,” Christiansen said.