During the summer months in Panama, the average high temperature is 31 Celsius, but can feel much hotter in the midday sun and stifling humidity. Meaning, if you are going to do something in those conditions, you must really love it. Such was the childhood of Panama striker Ismael Diaz, days full of football with neighbourhood friends in the Panama City streets.
He stood out from the start, debuting with local club Tauro at age 15, making his Panama senior team bow at 17 and then fulfilling the dream of a lifetime at 21 by playing in his first FIFA World Cup™ at Russia 2018. But Diaz’s story was far from finished. In fact, the best part is set to come next month when he will be one of Los Canaleros’ leaders in their World Cup 2026 Group L fixtures with Croatia, England and Ghana.
Sitting down recently with FIFA, the 28-year-old reflected on the wonderful simplicity of playing football as a child, and why it makes this Panama campaign all the more special.
Ismael Diaz: As a youngster, I always wanted to be a footballer. From a very young age, I was always playing in the streets with my friends, my cousins, my brother, so it’s been a dream of mine since I was little to reach a high level. Thank God, I was always very strong-minded and had a strong love of football. The people who were always by my side made me keep fighting to be able to play this wonderful sport.
I think beyond the adversity, beyond the problems you might face on and off the pitch, that love I have for football has really helped me to grow as a person, as a father, as a husband, as a player. It’s really given me the chance to play this beautiful sport and it’s taught me a lot of things.
They’re things you never expect at that early age. In reality, at 17, you’re not thinking about the opportunities that might arise, and being a member of the team, going abroad. I got the opportunity to make by debut with the national team, which every player dreams of, and thank God I was on cue – I scored on my debut.
You couldn’t afford to drop points or slip up. We didn’t start off as well as we had hoped to and I think that hit us hard. But I learnt a lot and that’s important for future qualifiers. We have a really good squad and I always say that it’s in the bad times, the tough times when you realise what kind of squad you have. And we got to see that. I think everyone – and I can speak for myself – did everything they could to achieve the objective we wanted. It was very stressful, moments of sadness and anger, but in the end, I realised that if we all pulled together, we could reach that moment of joy.
It sounds like a lie, but when you look back, it’s been a long process with a lot of hard work. When you really love football, you make big sacrifices. I’ve always had the mindset that I wanted to keep developing after achieving certain goals. And to be able to be in a World Cup at this age, I look back and remember that I started out playing in the streets with my friends. We were barefoot, you leave there bruised, but come back the next day. Sometimes we played at midday in the sun. So, they’re beautiful memories that you have and in the present day, you treasure them, because of the hard work you put in.
To represent your country, what can I tell you? As I said, the biggest dream of any player is to wear the national team shirt, to represent their country. I always try to do my best. I always put Panama on a pedestal. I always try to give joy to everyone and I’m sure for all my team-mates it’s the same. So, it means a lot. If God allows me to, I’ll continue to strive like I always do, and I hope I can wear this shirt for many more years.
A lot of us come from the streets, we come from humble backgrounds, where maybe we had enough to be able to play in football schools, which I remember really well. I had a stint at a football school in Tocumen. We trained in an empty space. And little by little, you develop. When you reach the elite level, you realise all the hard work you’ve put in.
That was Panama’s first World Cup. I think that the feelings were more of living that experience, of a first World Cup, knowing how it feels and what it’s like. Now, it’s slightly different, our mentality has changed. We want to do more than what we were capable of doing in the last World Cup, and that’s why we’re going there with a competitive mentality.
Everyone’s told me that it’s tough, but I like it. I like it because, at the end of the day, I’ve always thought that you go to the World Cup to compete against the best and play against them. So, I’m happy with the group we’re in.
Wow! I don’t know. It’s our greatest wish right now. It’d be incredible for it to happen in our first game, to get that win. Our emotions, our happiness would have no limits. It would be a dream come true.
