This one looks like a pretty one-sided match, but Panama has proven that they can defend even against the best offenses and quite honestly England is not one of them. The English might have one of the best leagues in the world, but when it comes to their national team they usually disappoint. Panama would probably be a big underdog against anyone they play here on paper, but their defense is surprisingly good and I don't think things will go so smoothly for England today.
Like I mention, every 4 years they have this huge hype about England this and England that and I've never seen them actually do something in the big competitions. They qualified as the winner of the group before Slovenia, Slovakia and Scotland, who are honestly playing like shit. They won the first game in the last seconds of the game with a lucky goal from Kane to make it a 2-1 victory. After scoring a fast goal and they were putting pressure on Tunisia for the first 30 minutes, but after that it was all downhill from here. I do expect them to win here, but barely. I see a big struggle to get through the opposition defence here and I don't see a trashing here from their side. But who knows on a bad day, this one can even end 1-1.
They qualified after winning and drawing against Costa Rica and the U.S., so that could give us little pointers that this team doesn't live in the jungle somewhere, where they play soccer with stones and they really can upset a team if they put their mind to it. Of course, they are more of a defensive team and they tend to not score a lot, so I don't see them scoring a lot today, maybe even not at all. Against Belgium, they really put up a good fight, but they lost their concentration after 60 minutes and lost the game 3-0. Today they will face less pressure in the offense like they did against Belgium so I'm counting them to hold down the fort and maybe even draw here.
In my opinion, England will start this one a bit more careful, even a point here would probably get them to the next round. They showed that they can be dangerous, but the pressure usually lasts for about 30 minutes and not longer. If Panama can withhold the pressure here for the first 30 minutes, England should have bigger and bigger problems scoring a goal. On the other hand if Panama scores, things might even get a bit trickier for England. I'm not underestimating English attackers, but I do think that the Central/South American style of play can cause them more problems than Tunisia did. If England does win they should win here by 1, so I am personally staying away from the handi lines here.
