Spirited Tunisia beat Panama in a consolation victory, FT TUN 2 PAN 1

With Belgium and England now officially through to the Round of 16, Tunisia and Panama will look for a consolation

Full-time analysis: Tunisia vs Panama was the match about saving grace. Both the teams were eliminated from their respective groups but both Tunisia and Panama looked for a consolation. Tunisia found it through goals from Ben Youssef and Khazri nullifying their blunder from the own goal. 

Tunisia started the match on an attacking and had most of the possession. Neither side seriously tested the opposition goalkeeper. It took an own goal to break the deadlock. 

One of the highlights of the day was the miss by Khazri before the halftime. He would be relieved to score one back and can look back at this world cup as a fruitful experience.

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Tunisia fought well against England in their first group campaign and this win consolidates their temperament.

Both, the teams end their World Cup journey today but we will definitely see more of them in the coming tournaments.

Trivia:

Fakhreddine Ben Youssef's goal for Tunisia was the 2500th scored in World Cup finals history.

Yassine Meriah's own goal is the 50th in the World Cup history. 

Panama's goal means this is the first #WorldCup tournament in history in which every team has scored at least twice.

Updates:
66min: Khazri scores from an assist from O Haddadi.

51 min: F. Ben Youssef from an assist with W. Khazri

Half time analysis:Tunisia vs Panama is the match about saving grace. Both the teams are eliminated from their respective groups but both Tunisia and Panama are looking for a consolation.So, the buildup to the match was more of a consolation factor. 

Tunisia started the match on a better note than Panama and had most of the possesion. Neither side seriously tested the opposition goalkeeper but it was Rodriguez who scored the goal from an assist from Torres. 

However, one of the highlights of the day was the miss by Khazri before the half time
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The match is all set for an exciting 2nd half time.
 

Updates:

33min:  Y Meriah scores an own goal.

30 min:The scores are still tied as none of the teams look close enough to score

15 min: Panama's defence is holding for now but they are one of the leakier sides at the World Cup: they have conceded nine goals from 13 shots on target faced so far.

1min: The match between Tunisia and Panama is underway

Trivia: Tunisia have also already conceded more goals at this World Cup than they did in any of their previous four tournaments, with seven; their previous high was six conceded in 2006.

Confirmed line-ups out:

Panama: Penedo; Machado, R Torres, Escobar, Ovalle; Gomez, Barcenas, Avila, Godoy, JL Rodriguez; G Torres

Subs: Cummings, Perez, Calderon, Pimentel, Davis, Arroyo, Tejada, Rodriguez, Baloy, Murillo, Cooper, Diaz

Tunisia: Mathlouthi; Nagguez, Meriah, Bedoui, Haddadi; Sassi, Skhiri, Chaalali; Khazri, F. Ben Youssef, Sliti

Subs: Benalouane, Maaloul, Badri, Ben Amor, Khalil, Khaoui, Srarfi, Khalifa

Referee: N Shukralla (Bahrain)

With Belgium and England now officially through to the Round of 16, all that remains for Tunisia and Panama, the other two nations in Group G at the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia, is to try to bow out with a bang. Both teams will be intent on putting on a good show, serving up goals and securing a victory that would allow them to head home with their heads held high.

Tunisia suffered heartbreak in their opener against England, succumbing to a last-gasp 2-1 defeat after having adopted a cautious approach. This led them to change tack and go on the attack against Belgium in their second game, only to fall to an even heavier defeat. While that second encounter showcased their creativity and firepower, with several key defenders out injured, the Eagles of Carthage were far too open at the other end of the pitch and were punished in the 5-2 loss for a string of mistakes. Will they get the balance right this time round in order to claim a win that they have spent decades waiting for?

Meanwhile, World Cup debutants Panama fought well in their curtain-raiser against Belgium before eventually losing 3-0. However, they endured a tougher time against England, going down 6-1. Nevertheless, they will be buoyed by having broken their goalscoring duck through talismanic leader Felipe Baloy, which could inspire Los Canaleros to notch more goals and pick up their first point, or even victory, at the competition. With their players raring to write their names in their country's history, anything is possible.

Panama 23-man final squad:

Goalkeepers: Jaime Penedo (Dinamo Bucharest), Jose Calderon (Chorrillo FC), Alex Rodriguez (San Francisco FC).

Defenders: Michael Murillo (New York Red Bulls), Harold Cummings (San Jose Earthquakes), Fidel Escobar (New York Red Bulls), Roman Torres (Seattle Sounders FC), Adolfo Machado (Houston Dynamo), Eric Davis (DAC Dunajska Streda), Luis Ovalle (CD Olimpia), Felipe Baloy (CSD Municipal).

Midfielders: Gabriel Gomez (Atletico Bucaramanga), Edgar Barcenas (Cafetaleros de Tapachula), Armando Cooper (Club Universidad de Chile), Valentin Pimentel (Plaza Amador), Alberto Quintero (Universitario Lima), Anibal Godoy (San Jose Earthquakes), Jose Luis Rodriguez (KAA Gent).

Forwards: Blas Perez (CSD Municipal), Gabriel Torres (CD Huachipato), Ismael Diaz (Deportivo La Coruña), Abdiel Arroyo (LD Alajuelense), Luis Tejada (Sport Boys).

Tunisia's 23 man World Cup squad

Goalkeepers: Farouk Ben Mustapha (Al Shabab, Saudi Arabia), Moez Hassen (Chateauroux, France), Aymen Mathlouthi (Al Baten, Saudi Arabia)

Defenders: Rami Bedoui (Etoile du Sahel), Yohan Benalouane (Leicester City, England), Syam Ben Youssef (Kasimpasa, Turkey), Dylan Bronn (Gent, Belgium), Oussama Haddadi (Dijon, France), Ali Maaloul (Al Ahly, Egypt), Yassine Meriah (CS Sfaxien), Hamdi Nagguez (Zamalek, Egypt)

Midfielders: Anice Badri (Esperance), Mohamed Amine Ben Amor (Al Ahli Riyadh, Saudi Arabia), Ghaylene Chaalali (Esperance), Ahmed Khalil (Club Africain), Saifeddine Khaoui (Troyes, France), Ferjani Sassi (Al Nasr, Saudi Arabia), Ellyes Skhiri (Montpellier, France), Naim Sliti (Dijon, France), Bassem Srarfi (Nice, France)

Forwards: Fakhreddine Ben Youssef (Al Ittifaq, Saudi Arabia), Saber Khalifa (Club Africain), Wahbi Khazri (Rennes, France)

When and Where to watch: Panama vs Tunisia

Time: 11:30 PM (IST)

In today's Group G match, Panama vs Tunisia, will be played in Mordovia stadium on Thurday, June 28, 2018 at 11:30 PM (IST).

Free streaming details: Panama vs Tunisia

Panama vs Tunisia will be available for live streaming on Sony Liv also. And Both Airtel and Jio would broadcast the FIFA World Cup 2018 matches for free to their respective subscribers.