With six minutes of added time at the end of a match that produced few chances, Brandon Thomas-Asante raced down the left flank, beat his marker and squared the ball for Yirenkyi, who tapped home the winner.
The result was harsh on Panama, who matched the four-time African champions in only their fourth World Cup appearance since making their debut in 2018.
Ghana’s next game is against Group L leaders England in Boston on Tuesday, while Panama will hope to end their winless World Cup record when they face Croatia in Toronto on Wednesday.
Panama almost took the lead inside the opening two minutes, but Cecilio Waterman’s strike was tipped over the bar by Ghana goalkeeper Lawrence Ati Zigi.
In the second half, Panama’s Cristian Martínez hammered a shot into the side-netting from only a few yards out.
In the closing stages, goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera, who had gone forward for a late set-piece, headed the ball to teammate Ismael Díaz, whose header went straight to Benjamin Asare, Ghana’s substitute goalkeeper.
Head coach Carlos Queiroz brought on Asare at half-time after Zigi suffered an injury when he landed awkwardly during the first half.
Queiroz’s side created little before scoring what was the latest winning goal of this summer’s World Cup and will likely need to improve if they are to get a positive result against England in their next match.
Ghana were without midfielder Thomas Partey after he was denied entry to Canada because of ongoing criminal proceedings in the United Kingdom.
(The Whistler)