Football in Panama is run by the

Federación Panameña de Fútbol The Panamanian Football Federation ( es, Federación Panameña de Fútbol), known as FEPAFUT, is the official governing body of football in Panama and is in charge of the Panama national football team. FEPAFUT was a founding member of CONCACAF ...

. The association administers the national football team, as well as the LPF. Football is the most popular sport in

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

. Panama qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Domestic football

In 1988 professional football was established in Panama.

Gary Stempel Gary Stempel (born 26 January 1957) is a Panamanian football manager. Career Prior to his move to Panama, Stempel was a community outreach officer with London club Millwall. He enjoyed his greatest success as at club level in a four-year spell ...

is considered an influential figure in improving Panama football. In 2017, a separate women's league, the Liga de Fútbol Femenino, was established, with the aim to improve women's football in the country.

League system

National team

The 2010s, the national team experienced its greatest success by being runners-up in the

2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 12th CONCACAF Gold Cup competition and the 22nd CONCACAF regional championship overall in CONCACAF's fifty years of existence. The United States was the host nation. The competition began on 7 July 2013 at the ...

and qualifying for

2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

. Meanwhile, Panama women's team has reached the playoffs for the first time during the

2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification process decided all 24 teams which played in the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, with the hosts France qualifying automatically. It is the eighth FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international wo ...

, although its dream was cut short by losing to Argentina. Panama later repeated the feat by reaching the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eit ...

2023 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup is scheduled to be the ninth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the quadrennial international women's football championship contested by the women's national association football teams organised ...

, with the aim to qualify for the first Women's World Cup continues.

Stadiums in Panama

The Estadio Rommel Fernández, the national football stadium of Panama, is the largest stadium in the country.

References

{{League systems