It is not a stretch to say that Panamanian football is living one of its finest moments. The senior national team are coming off a hard-fought performance in the and have established themselves as the top team in Central America.
A similar momentum has taken hold at youth level. The Panama U-20s appeared in the and are looking to reach the global showpiece for the eighth time via the 2026 Concacaf U-20 Championship, which will qualify four teams for Azerbaijan/Uzbekistan 2027.
A man who was on the touchline for , Mike Stump will be guiding the young Canaleros at this week’s qualifying tournament in Mexico.
Born in Chicago to a Panamanian mother and American father, Stump has spent the majority of his life in the Central American country and tells FIFA that he has a group that is ready to take the next step forward in the international arena.
Mike Stump: I didn't realize how scary the altitude was [laughs]. I’m glad that we’ve had these extra days because when we first arrived, we didn't do anything. The next day, we had a session and I couldn't believe it. It was brutal. I said to myself, ‘Oh, my God. How many days before we can actually see this team run?’ But by day four, we were doing much better.
But the preparation has been good. The hotel, the place is great. The town is great. The final squad list came out and there was a different aura in training. Everybody's happy. Training was alive. We’ll be ready to play on Monday.
Their desire to run all the time, to play hard and to try to win. They compete, and that was a surprise for me at first because I haven’t had much time to put this together. We’ve only been at this two-and-a-half months. We had a background of the players and were able to draw from that, but we had to put this together in a hurry. We went to Türkiye to play some scrimmages and we were wondering if we were going to be able to compete. That first game came and I said, ‘Holy smokes, these guys are for real!’ We played four games there; we did well and now we’ve been playing teams here in Mexico to get ready. We’re competing against them and doing well. It’s promising. We haven’t won a lot, but we don’t lose.
Canada have thrown a bit of a monkey wrench because their first team coach [Jesse Marsch] is going to coach them. It was just announced, so now we have to start watching how he plays. That changes things, so we’ll have to take a new look at Canada. Jamaica are always a tough team and with Honduras you are talking about a very physical match.
It would be huge for us. The Panamanian league is getting better but it doesn’t really have the pay that some of these kids could get outside the country, so the exposure for us is always the World Cup. It’s all about these kids’ futures, that’s what we do this for, so the World Cup really helps for exposure for our kids. It’s huge for us.
That was the greatest experience for me and the kids, because those kids really matured. Eight of those kids are professional players. They play outside Panama. That's what our group was. And the experience was great. We played Ecuador. We tied the host nation. We lost the first game against Morocco because I think we had a little cold feet in the first half. But in the second half we outplayed Morocco. We almost had the equaliser, we just didn't get it.
My experience with the younger players helps me understand what the Panamanian mindset is in competition. They want to play. They want to compete. They don’t back down from anybody. And the World Cup showed what's been happening over the years here. What the senior team did with good coaching and good organization to compete was great. That was a tough group. There wasn't much leeway, so I was very proud and very happy for them.
Sources: FIFA Official
