In the Estadio Rommel Fernandez, the Panama celebrations began the moment the ball crashed into the Costa Rica goal. The scorer, Roman Torres, ripped off his shirt and swirled it around his head like Ryan Giggs at Villa Park in 1999.

Coaching staff and substitutes poured down the touchline.

Stewards, lost in the moment, high-fived players who leapfrogged into a cascade of supporters on the terraces. On Panama television, the chorus of ‘Gol, gol, gol’ was one of those endearing moments of Latin American release.

Panama start their first ever World Cup campaign against giants Belgium on June 18

Roman Torres scored the goal that saw Panama beat Costa Rica to qualify for World Cup

Red flares lit up as Panamanians edged to the brink of their nation’s first World Cup. Still shirtless, Torres paraded down the touchline for a lap of honour with two cameramen in tow — despite the game still having added time to run. On the final whistle, Panama players crashed to the turf, laughing, sobbing, rolling on the floor in raptures. Fireworks decorated the Panama skyline.

Out in the streets, the traditional caravana celebration began. Cars poured along Calle Cincuenta and Via Espana, horns honking, all-singing, all-dancing. The beer shelves of local supermarkets were emptied within an hour. So they moved on to spirits. Plantain was fried at stalls and portions of chicken and rice were readied.

Caught up in the moment, President Juan Carlos Varela sped into his office and signed a decree for an immediate day of national holiday. Any business that opened its doors was ordered to pay 50 per cent extra in overtime to employees.

Only work on the Panama Canal and on planned chemotherapy patients continued.

‘Torres is like Dios [God] now. It was, quite simply, one of our greatest days,’ says Blanca Navarro, a national TV journalist.

Amid the fears and suspicion undermining a World Cup in Russia, this Panama side offer a reminder of the empowering potential of sport; of the ability to make people smile and the potential to achieve when spirit and ambition is harnessed with raw talent.

Roman Torres celebrates after helping Panama seal their place at the World Cup in Russia

Torres got this World Cup themed tattoo after qualifying for this year's tournament

Football in the country is only just taking off. The national stadium was almost full to its 32,000 capacity for the clinching victory over Costa Rica. Gary Stempel, a half-British, half-Panamanian coach, worked for Millwall as a Community Outreach Officer in the Eighties and was present on the night. ‘In the national league, attendances are very poor,’ he says. ‘On the weekend before that huge game, out of the five league matches, there were on average 150 fans at each one. There is no club fan culture.’

When Stempel moved to Panama in 1996 and began to work with the Under-22 national team, the country’s problems were chronic. Not one of those Panama players who head to Russia will have taken a straightforward path.

Stempel, who managed the first team between 2008 and 2009 and is now the Under-17 coach, says: ‘There were very bad facilities. You could not get more basic, except for other third world countries. There were no showers. I did training sessions where pitches did not have goals, we trained on gravel, mud flats, we had three or four balls I would buy.

‘There were no bibs, so it was T-shirts against skins and players wore boots with holes in.

‘Some of those players will be at the World Cup this summer. We didn’t have a water cooler, so would have a bucket from the local church next door.

Gary Stempel has admitted 'there were very bad facilities' in the past in Panama

Panama coach (left) Hernan Dario Gomez shakes hands with president Juan Carlos Varela

‘I took us to the final of the Central American Games in Honduras in 1996. We were 1-0 up in the final against Costa Rica. Just on half-time, they got a dodgy penalty and my goalkeeper was sent off. I went to confront the ref but the Honduras locals started pouring what I thought was beer over the referee, so it landed on me too. Then I got into the dressing room and realised it was urine. So I gave a team-talking drenched in p*** and p****d off!’

Yet it is the development of Panama’s players that Stempel particularly highlights. He has worked closely with many of the current national squad including Torres, Michael Murillo (who plays for New York Red Bulls) and midfielder Anibal Godoy (San Jose Earthquakes).

‘Growing up, it was a battle for survival for these boys,’ he says. ‘Some lived in huts, very poor living conditions and goodness knows how many sleeping in one room. Maybe they would have one meal a day if they were lucky. Many also were fathers very young — around 15 or 16. I remember training sessions at club level and, on pay-day, the exes of the players would also turn up to take the cash to make sure they got money for their children.’

Stempel saw plenty during his time at Millwall but, as well as a coach, he masquerades as a guardian and social worker for Panama’s young footballers. ‘I’m known as a father figure,’ he says. ‘The players have social problems. The vast majority don’t know who their fathers are. Many live with mothers or uncles or grandfathers. They have the street instinct.

A Panama jersey is placed on the coffin of Amilcar Henriquez during his funeral

‘As kids, they couldn’t give a f*** about anything. There is still lots of problems with drugs and violence. But these guys have changed their lives and those of their families.’

For Panama, the past year’s triumph has been laced with trauma and tragedy. Midfielder Amilcar Henriquez was a crucial midfield component in the World Cup campaign and had played in the previous four qualifying games before heading out with friends in April 2017. As he walked down the street in the perilous suburb of Colon, a man stepped out of an unmarked vehicle and shot him to the ground.

Only a couple of weeks earlier, Henriquez had spoken of his World Cup aspirations. He said: ‘This is our moment to paint the final flourish after so many years of struggle. A World Cup is the height of our dreams.’

He died at the age of 33, with some witnesses hearing more than 20 gunshots. His No21 jersey has been retired.

‘It is still difficult to talk about,’ says Stempel. ‘We won the Nations Cup in 2009 and he scored the winning penalty for me. We lost the first game against Costa Rica in that tournament and the next day, everyone was down, as though it was the end of the world. I got the players together and I put it out there: “What is the worst thing that has ever happened to you?” Amilcar explained how one day he was watching TV in his home when these guys stormed into his house with guns. One put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger but it jammed. Then he chased them out.

‘So a defeat by Costa Rica was f*** all in that context. I didn’t know if he was in a gang but some of the players know gangsters. The local gangs would say: “Come with us”.’

Panama narrowly lost against Denmark 1-0 last week despite going down to 10-men

Little by little, the security situation is improving in Panama. The total drug confiscations exceeded the annual record of 72 tonnes claimed by the security services the year before.

Politically, matters have also improved since the reign of dictator Mariano Noriega, who was both an ally and enemy of the US. In Richard M Koster’s book ‘Time of the Tyrants’, he revealed that Noriega provided Cuban secrets to the USA at the same time as selling Panamanian passports to Fidel Castro to be used by Cuban secret agents and Soviet bloc nations.

One official explains: ‘There is still a lot of narco and money laundering. Panama is the hub of the Americas and the hub of the traffic routes out of Colombia towards the USA. The British Embassy have a new police unit in the last five years, where they track movement of drugs.’

On the field, Panama are also emerging. Last week they lost 1-0 against Denmark but for 65 minutes they held out and offered fleeting moments of quality.

Panama have recently drawn against Serbia and Wales and will not be a gimme for England. They also saw off qualifying competition from the US, who will not be at the World Cup for the first time since 1986. The American failure and Panama success surprised everybody, none more so than US broadcasters Fox Sports, who committed £283million to show the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

On Thursday, Panama were reduced to 10 men for a head-height lunge by forward Blas Perez on Kasper Schmeichel. Denmark’s Nicklas Bendtner warned Panama will need to be more restrained at the World Cup. ‘I remember Holland and that Nigel De Jong challenge [in the 2010 World Cup final] right in the chest,’ says Bendtner. ‘That is the only similar one I can remember.

Panama will collect £5.6m even if they fall at the group stages in Russia in the summer

‘If the striker had gone full stretch, we probably would have seen Kasper in hospital by now.’

Roman Torres says Panama will be as physical against England: ‘We will play the same way. The coach has a clear plan. After the game, we will show respect. I’m not the kind of guy that likes all the shirt swapping — but Harry Kane would be a nice one to keep.’

For Russia, Panama will be aided by the £1.1m that every World Cup nation receives to fund their preparation — in addition to the £5.6m Panama will collect even if they fall at the group stages.

Panama have hired a team chef, a nutritionist and all the make-up of modern technical staff. Manager Hernan Dario Perez, a Colombian known as ‘El Bolilo’ (The Baton), went with a bold 4-4-2 formation in qualifying, but is trialling a 5-4-1 system in friendlies. He managed Colombia at France ’98 and Ecuador at the 2002 World Cup.

He says: ‘People wanted to see our shirt at the World Cup, hear our national anthem. There’s lots of love at the moment. So enjoy it, it’s high tide, we have a lot to learn, but have a good time and be happy.’