New U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Gregg Berhalter knows when his first game in charge will be and the nation his team will play against.
U.S. Soccer announced they will take on Panama on January 27 in Glendale, Arizona as their first of two January Camp friendlies. The second will be against Costa Rica in San Jose and was announced on November 20.
The federation announced the match at the start of the press conference introducing Berhalter as their new coach.
Panama notoriously finished ahead of the USMNT in World Cup Qualifying for Russia in 2018. Roman Torres scored a late goal to secure a win over Costa Rica to knock the U.S. out of qualification.
The last time these two sides met was the second-to-last match of that qualification cycle. The USMNT won 4-0 thanks to goals from Christian Pulisic, Jozy Altidore, and Bobby Wood.