REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci
In the end, Belgium's quality told. Panama battled and, for a while, frustrated their opposition, but they could not hold out in the second half.
Dries Mertens' volley, one of many aesthetic strikes in the tournament thus far, opened the scoring shortly after half time.
There was a brief period of respite for Panama until Romelu Lukaku struck twice to take the game beyond them: the first a header having been picked out superbly by Kevin De Bruyne, and the second a delicate chip over the onrushing goalkeeper.
The victory was enough to see Belgium go top of Group H by virtue of a better goal difference. England, of course, defeated Tunisia with a late Harry Kane goal, and the two favourites are now in position to qualify for the last-16.
Here are five things we learned from Belgium's win over Panama.