Panama were on the end of a 6-1 thrashing from England in their second Group G match. Baloy scored in the 78th minute to give his side a conciliation.

"Felipe [Baloy] deserved that goal, he's a great person and a great player. He has a very big heart, and we're all very happy that it was him who scored our first ever goal at the World Cup," Perez told journalists.

Perez added that participation in the World Cup has been an "invaluable" experience.

"The result is not quite [good], of course, but we learned many important things, as participation in the World Cup is an invaluable experience. We wanted to make people who live in Panama happy, unity within our country is very important to us," Perez said.

Panama will play against Tunisia in their third group-stage game on Thursday and both teams have already been knockout of the tournament.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicked off on June 14 and will continue until July 15, with the matches being played in 11 cities across Russia.