Panama’s Footballer Carrasquilla is set to Make his Debut Against Croatia: Coco’s Time has Come

The Panama national team returned to training this Thursday in New Tecumseth Ontario, just one day after their defeat to Ghana in their debut in Group L of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.  The session brought encouraging news for the coaching staff led by Thomas Christiansen: the positive progress of Adalberto Carrasquilla pictured above below center, who increased the intensity of his work and participated for the first time with the group since he was injured at the end of May. 

Adalberto Carrasquilla watches the ball during training on Thursday, June 18, in New Tecumseth, Ontario.

The practice session took place during the afternoon at the Nottawasaga Resort facilities, under lower temperatures than those recorded on previous days and with a strong breeze that accompanied much of the session.  As is typical after an official match, the 11 players who started against Ghana did not participate in the field training session.

Adalberto Carrasquilla jogs alongside his teammates on the Nottawasaga Resort soccer field. 

The group consisted of two goalkeepers and 13 outfield players, in addition to Victor Griffith who continues to train with the national team while remaining with the squad.  All eyes were on Carrasquilla. The midfielder arrived with the rest of his teammates from the hotel to the pitch, a route the squad usually takes on foot. He then jogged with the group and, for the first time since his injury, actively participated in the various exercises planned by the coaching staff.

Before fully rejoining the team, the player did some ball work alongside full-back Jorge Gutiérrez. Minutes later, he joined the practice session, a positive sign in his recovery process.  Carrasquilla suffered an injury on May 24th during the second leg of the Liga MX final. Twenty-six days have passed since that match, during which time the midfielder has followed a specific rehabilitation program to try to return to play as soon as possible.  Meanwhile, the starters from the match against Ghana remained on the sidelines of the training session. The group carried out recovery work that included cryotherapy, low-intensity physical exercises in the gym, and physiotherapy sessions, all as part of the protocol following the demanding World Cup opener.

The Panamanian national team returned to training again this Friday morning. The session is to include the players who started against the African team, and will begin to shape their preparations for their second group stage match.  The next challenge will be against Croatia, a team that worked this Thursday at its training camp located in Alexandria, Virginia.  The European team is scheduled to travel to Canada on Sunday to face the match on Tuesday at Toronto Stadium, where Panama will seek to add its first points of the tournament after the setback suffered in its World Cup debut.