Both teams went into Thursday's match having already seen their elimination from the World Cup confirmed. However, both were keen to avoid finishing as the tournament's bottom nation.

It set the game up for an interesting 90 minutes and although the quality lacked at times, there was plenty of spirit on show to please supporters.

Tunisia looked the stronger team and dominated both the possession and chances in the first half but they couldn't make it count.

A lack of cutting edge throughout the competition continued against Panama and it allowed the Central American side to take a shock lead in the 33rd minute.

Jose Rodriguez tried his luck from range and was fortunate to see his effort take a wicked deflection off Yassine Meriah to wrong-foot Aymen Mathlouthi and hit the back of the net.

Panama managed to hold onto the 1-0 lead until half-time which meant only 45 minutes stood in the way of them securing their first ever World Cup win.

The second half followed the same theme as the first: Tunisia dominating while Panama continued to offer a threat on the counter.

The African side would eventually take advantage of their superiority, eliminating Panama's lead in the 53rd minute.

Some very nice link-up play between Naim Sliti and Wahbi Khazri allowed the latter to dart down the right and fire in a low cross to Fakhreddine Ben Yousseff, who had no trouble side-footing the pass into the goal to make it 1-1.

From that point on it looked ominous for Panama and they would find themselves behind just 13 minutes later.

Oussama Haddadi picked up the ball in the box on the left-hand side before playing a pin-point cross to Khazri on the right, who only had to tap into an empty net to give Tunisia a 2-1 lead.

To Panama's credit they remained resilient and arguably should have equalised in the 73th minute after their goal was wrongfully disallowed.

Edgar Barcenas found the net with a magnificent curling rocket but it was overturned for a soft foul in the build-up.

The decision basically sent Panama to defeat, with the Central American side unable to find that necessary equaliser to secure their first ever World Cup point.

Instead, it was jubliation for Tunisia. Their 2-1 victory was their first in the competition since 1978 and will hopefully act as a springboard for future major tournaments.

Puma Rodríguez

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