India holds Panama to 1-1 draw in Bengaluru friendly

The Indian national football team secured a 1-1 draw against Panama in an international friendly at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru. Despite being ranked 138th in the world compared to Panama’s 44th, India’s Ryan Williams opened the scoring in the 41st minute. Panama equalized in the 68th minute through a long-range strike by Omar Valencia.

The result led to India rising one place to 137th in the live FIFA World Rankings. India head coach Khalid Jamil praised the team's defensive performance but noted a lack of concentration that led to the equalizer, suggesting more self-belief is needed to secure wins against higher-ranked opponents.

Panama head coach Thomas Christiansen attributed the result to logistical difficulties, stating the team spent two hours in traffic before the match, which hindered their preparation. He also noted that the match featured five debutants for the Panamanian side.