Snubbed for the World Cup, Panama's Joel Williams attends England clash as a photographer

Joel Williams will be on the sidelines when Panama face England on Saturday, just not in the way he once hoped. The 28-year-old Union Cocle FC midfielder missed out on a World Cup 2026 call-up from head coach Thomas Christiansen but will attend the match in his capacity as a sports photographer, working through his own agency, Erudito Photo Sports.

Williams, who hails from Panama City and remains uncapped at international level, had been hampered by inconsistent playing time at club level — enough to keep him off Christiansen’s radar. Rather than watching from home, he channelled his secondary passion and has been shooting Panama’s Group L campaign from the sidelines, capturing their opening defeats against Ghana and Croatia.

The midfielder’s path into photography is an unlikely one. He didn’t pick up a camera until he was 21, when his father — a pastor and church singer — bought him one to help edit music videos. “My dad is a pastor in Panama and wanted me to make his music videos,” Williams told Mundo Deportivo with a grin. “But, to this day, incredibly, I haven’t made a single video for him.”

His dual career has since grown into something far more serious. “It’s not common for a photographer to be a footballer as well — a footballer competing at the very top level in the Panamanian league,” he said. “I’ve been lucky enough to be able to pursue this business, this job, this hobby, this love, this passion — whatever you want to call it — that God has given me. I’ve made a lot of sacrifices to get to where I am today.”

Williams was candid about the World Cup snub, acknowledging the reality of his situation without bitterness. “I can’t say I didn’t hold out hope that Christiansen would call me up. In football, you can never rule anything out. But I can’t say I was on his radar because I was having issues with playing time at the club.”

Panama’s match against England represents their toughest assignment of the tournament, though the result is academic in terms of qualification — the Central American side have already been eliminated after two opening defeats and cannot advance to the knockout stage regardless of the outcome.

For Williams, however, the occasion still carries weight, and he has not abandoned his playing ambitions. “Playing in the next World Cup? Well, it’s possible — anything is possible,” he said. The midfielder has had a lengthy career in Panamanian football, turning out for Alianza FC II, San Miguelito II, Potros del Este and Unión Coclé, and clearly intends to keep both careers running in parallel for as long as he can.