The flags of Paraguay and Panama both contain red, white and blue.
But that’s no excuse for ESPN, which made an embarrassing mistake Friday night when previewing the USA-Paraguay men’s soccer game in the World Cup.
During a betting segment, the analysts discussed Paraguay and had the correct flag on the screen, but the graphic on the bottom of the monitor read: “U.S. opens World Cup tonight vs. Panama (9 ET).”
The erroneous graphic made two appearances in the segment.
Paraguay is in South America and Panama is in North America.
A flight between the two typically takes about seven hours, they are separated by about 2,800 miles and you cannot drive from one to the other.
Panama actually beat Team USA, 1-0, in the CONCACAF Nations League semifinal.
But Team USA fared much better against Paraguay, with a four-goal outburst, including two by Folarin Balogun. It was the first time the US had a multi-goal scorer and a four-goal game in the World Cup since 1930.
Paraguay is no slouch, however. As recently as 2024, Paraguay beat international powers Argentina and Brazil.
“I think the first game is always the most difficult, you know, to get the nerves out of the way,” Balogun said. “You want a result like this and it gives you a lot of confidence for the next game.”
Maybe first-game jitters got the best of the graphics department, too.
USA has a week off before returning to action at 3 p.m. Friday against Australia. To be clear, that’s not the same as Austria, Algeria or Argentina.
The Americans are in Group D with Australia, Paraguay and Turkey.
Panama is in Group L with England, Croatia and Ghana.
ESPN has media rights deals with the United Soccer League – a tier below Major League Soccer – and the National Women’s Soccer League.
