Panama 2015/16 Away (Small)

This was Panama’s first away shirt made by New Balance, introduced after the brand began its first-ever partnership with a national team.

The design uses a white base covered by very pale grey horizontal stripes. Small blue details inside the collar reference one of the colours of Panama’s flag, while the perforated side panels and fitted shape give it the technical look New Balance used when entering football in the mid-2010s. 

The shirt became closely connected to Panama’s 2015 Gold Cup campaign. The team reached the semifinal without winning a match in normal time, drawing all three group games before eliminating Trinidad and Tobago after a nine-round penalty shootout.

Their semifinal against Mexico then became one of the most controversial matches in Gold Cup history. Panama had Luis Tejada sent off after only 24 minutes but still took the lead through Román Torres. With Panama only minutes away from the final, Mexico were awarded a heavily disputed penalty after Torres fell onto the ball. Andrés Guardado equalised, then scored from another penalty in extra time as Mexico won 2–1. CONCACAF later acknowledged that the referee’s performance contained serious errors. 

Panama responded by beating the United States on penalties in the third-place match, finishing the tournament with a medal after one of the most frustrating weeks in their football history. 

That gives this unusually clean white shirt a story far bigger than its simple design suggests. It belongs to the Panama side that refused to disappear after a chaotic semifinal and ended the tournament by beating the host nation.