African powerhouse Ghana defeated Panama 1-0 in their opening clash of the FIFA World Cup on Wednesday night. The only goal of the game came in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time when Caleb Yirenkyi finished a sweeping counterattack with a tap-in that sent Ghanaian fans into frenzy in Toronto.
The first half of the game was calm and cautious as both sides played conservatively. However, the energy shifted dramatically in the second half as both teams started creating chances with aggressive and dominant football.
Panama dominated the first half, while Ghana took control of proceedings in the second half.
The match was viewed as a crucial showdown between two teams expected to battle for third place in Group L. With this group being labelled the ‘Group of Death’ due to the presence of heavyweights England and Croatia, Ghana finds itself in relatively calm waters after securing three points.
Panama is almost certainly facing an early exit, as their next matches are against England and Croatia.
Earlier, England hammered Croatia 4-2 in a high-stakes match between the group favourites. At the start of the tournament, FIFA ranked England fourth, Croatia 11th, Panama 34th, and Ghana 73rd.
The English team dominated proceedings from the start and kept relentless pressure on Croatia to secure a convincing victory in the all-important group clash.
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