Since the match will not be played during FIFA dates, both Panama and Mexico will use players from the Panamanian Football League (LPF) and Liga MX respectively for their friendly on Thursday, January 22. The match, confirmed yesterday by the federations of both countries, will be held at the Rommel Fernández National Stadium in Panama City. It will be Panama's second friendly match of 2026, as previously, on Sunday, January 18, the national team will play against their Bolivian counterpart at the IV Centenario Stadium in the city of Tarija, located in southern Bolivia and capital of the Cercado province, at a time yet to be defined. It is expected that coach Thomas Christiansen will make the call-up for the two international matches in mid-January. For Mexico, which qualified directly for the World Cup as one of the host nations, the match against Panama will be its first friendly of 2026. "We have faced teams from all confederations, away in conditions that Javier Aguirre asked of us. Now we are closing January, February, and March, which will be against Panama, Bolivia, Iceland, Portugal, and Belgium, we continue with the work of closing the last rivals for May and June," explained Dulio Davino, director of Mexican national teams, at the official presentation of the three matches. Meanwhile, Panama qualified after leading their group in the final stage of the World Cup qualifiers and was placed in Group L alongside England, Ghana, and Croatia.
