Ghana’s Caleb Yirenkyi scored a 95th-minute winner to deny Panama their first-ever World Cup point in Toronto, Canada.
With six minutes added on at the end of match of few chances, Brandon Thomas-Asante raced down the left, beat his marker, and squared the ball for Yirenkyi, who tapped in.
The result was harsh on Panama, who had matched the four-time African champions in only their fourth World Cup appearance since their debut in 2018.
Ghana’s next game is against Group L leaders England in Boston on Tuesday (21:00 BST), while Panama will hope to end their losing World Cup record when they face Croatia in Toronto on Wednesday (00:00 BST).
Panama almost took the lead inside the first two minutes but Cecilio Waterman’s strike was tipped over the bar by Ghana keeper Lawrence Ati Zigi.
In the second half Panama’s Cristian Martinez hammered a shot against the side-netting when only a few yards from goal.
And in the closing stages, goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera, up for a late set-piece, headed the ball to team-mate Ismael Diaz who nodded straight to Benjamin Asare, Ghana’s second-choice keeper.
Head coach Carlos Queiroz had brought on Asare at half-time after Zigi suffered an injury when he landed awkwardly in the first period.
Queiroz’s side created little before scoring what was the latest winning goal so far at this summer’s World Cup, and will probably need to improve if they are to get a positive result from their next match with England.
Ghana were without midfielder Thomas Partey after he was denied entry to Canada because of ongoing criminal proceedings in the UK.
