MIAMI – The Final Round of the Concacaf Qualifiers to the 2026 FIFA World Cup begins with Suriname hosting Panama on Thursday at Dr. Ir. Franklin Essed Stadion in Paramaribo, Suriname.

The encounter will mark the first-ever meeting between the two nations in any official competition.

Suriname is enjoying an unprecedented run, unbeaten in four straight qualifying matches, and has won six of its last eight World Cup qualifiers. This will be the first appearance for Suriname in the Final Round of Concacaf Qualifiers since 1978.

Panama, runner-up in the 2024/25 Concacaf Nations League, is on a positive streak with five consecutive wins in World Cup qualifying. It will be the nation’s fifth time participating in the Final Round of Concacaf Qualifiers. Thomas Christiansen’s side hopes to book the nation’s second ever World Cup participation and first since Russia 2018.

All-Time series 

It will be the first meeting in any type of competition between Suriname and Panama.

Suriname has a streak of 4 consecutive matches without a loss in the qualifiers, of which they won three and drew one. Overall, they have 6 wins in their last 8 qualifying matches, with six wins, one draw, and one loss — an unprecedented mark for Suriname.

Suriname returns to the Final Round of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers for the first time since Argentina 1978, when they did not win any matches and finished last in the hexagonal that also included México, Haiti, El Salvador, Canada, and Guatemala. México qualified for the 1978 World Cup.

Top scorer in the Final Round of the qualifiers: Remie Olmberg (3).

Panama has a streak of five consecutive wins in the qualifiers, their second-best run after achieving 6 straight wins between 2011 and 2012 (for Brazil 2014) and between 2017 and 2021 (1 for Russia 2018 and 5 in the qualifiers for Qatar 2022).

For Panama, this will be their fifth participation in the Final Round, starting with the FIFA World Cup Germany 2006 (last out of six), Brazil 2014 (5th place, eliminated), Russia 2018 (3rd place, qualified for the first and only time), and Qatar 2022 (5th place, eliminated).

Top scorers for Panama in the Final Round of the qualifiers: Gabriel Torres (5), Luis Tejada (5), Rolando Blackburn (4).