Preview: Panama vs Dominican Republic - prediction, team news, lineups

Aiming to build on an impressive display at the Maracana, Panama welcome Dominican Republic to Estadio Rommel Fernandez on Wednesday night for an international friendly.

Panama City will witness its heroes in action for the final time before Los Canaleros head off to the World Cup across the United States, Canada and Mexico this summer.

Match preview

At the beginning of a potentially-historic summer, Panama produced a promising performance at the Rio de Janeiro home of Brazil on Sunday afternoon, when the visitors found the net twice at the iconic Maracana.

Despite falling behind due to a Vinicius Jr strike after 58 seconds, Los Canaleros were arguably the better team for a large section of the friendly's first half, with midfielder Carlos Harvey scoring in an eventual 6-2 victory for the Selecao.

Sunday's loss to Brazil was only Panama's second defeat in their past 11 international fixtures, with Thomas Christiansen moulding his side into a CONCACAF powerhouse in the build-up to football's greatest tournament.

The absence of the United States, Canada and Mexico in qualification for the competition allowed Los Canaleros to step up and fulfill the role of big dogs, with Wednesday's hosts enjoying a 10-game unbeaten run (W7 D3).

Panama were the runners-up of the CONCACAF Nations League in 2025 and faced the same fate in the 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup, highlighting the progress made by the Central American side under the reign of ex-Barcelona player Christiansen.

© Imago / ZUMA Press Wire

After collecting a steady six points from four first-round matches across 2024 and 2025, Dominican Republic witnessed the end of their World Cup dreams, finishing third in their section behind Jamaica and Guatemala.

Following their failure to reach their maiden World Cup, Los Quisqueyanos have recently competed in the CONCACAF Series - a tournament created for North and Central American countries who dropped out of the qualification process.

Despite playing hosts for Group A of the competition, Dominican Republic could only manage a single victory across four games, drawing to Cuba, El Salvador and Martinique on home soil in November 2025 and March.

Los Quisqueyanos were exceptional in front of their own supporters during the first round of World Cup qualifying, winning back-to-back home matches by an outstanding aggregate scoreline of 9-0.

However, the World Cup dreams of Marcelo Neveleff's troops were undone by their considerable struggles on the road, with Dominican Republic losing at Guatemala and section winners Jamaica.

Panama International Friendlies form:

Panama form (all competitions):

Dominican Republic International Friendlies form:

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Dominican Republic form (all competitions):

Team News

© Iconsport

Panama were impressive versus Brazil on the weekend, despite playing without star midfielder Adalberto Carrasquilla.

The 27-year-old could make an appearance on Wednesday night for Los Canaleros, who are looking for another positive friendly display.

Joint-top goalscorer in qualifying, Jose Fajardo is the preferred striker partner for Cecilio Waterman at the moment.

Dominican Republic have a few players recognisable to followers of the EFL, including Mansfield Town goalkeeper Anthony Nunez.

Panama possible starting lineup:

Mosquera; Escobar, Ramos, Blackman; Murillo, Harvey, Barcenas, Andrade; Fajardo, Diaz, Waterman

Dominican Republic possible starting lineup:

Valdez; Kaparos, Pujol, Dollenmayer; Urbaez, Morschel, Rosario, Firpo; Urena, Reyes, Romero

We say: Panama 3-1 Dominican Republic

After going toe-to-toe with Brazil on the weekend, Panama should be extremely confident of putting Dominican Republic to the sword in Panama City.

Los Quisqueyanos stumbled through the CONCACAF Series on home soil and face a difficult away assignment on Wednesday night.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.