Cristian Martínez

Cristian Martínez is a defensive midfielder named in Thomas Christiansen's final 26-man Panama squad for the 2026 World Cup, listed among the midfielders. Full name Cristian Jesús Martínez, he is 29 at kick-off and plays his club football in the Israeli Premier League with Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona. He brings 60 senior Panama caps and two international goals into the tournament, both recorded as of the squad announcement in late May 2026.

Panama face England, Croatia and Ghana in Group L, with a meeting with England at MetLife Stadium on 27 June. Thomas Christiansen's side qualified by winning their CONCACAF third-round group on 18 November 2025, and Martínez is one of the midfielders he named in that confirmed 26-man squad.

Martínez is a defensive midfielder, the position he plays for Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona in the Israeli Premier League and the role in which Thomas Christiansen named him among Panama's midfielders for the 2026 World Cup. His two international goals in 60 caps are a midfielder's return rather than a goalscorer's.

At 29, he moved to Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona in July 2025 and travels to the tournament as one of the central-midfield names in Panama's confirmed 26.

Cristian Martínez adds a defensive midfielder to Panama's Goal Rush squad: a 29-year-old with 60 caps and two international goals for Panama, playing his club football for Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona. That defensive-midfield role, rather than a goal tally, is what he offers the team pick. Panama's £10m place sits in Tier 4, a low-band call within the game's £200m card budget, and the Group L draw sets the early fixtures for that pick.