Footballers Unfiltered: Amir Murillo on World Cup dreams coming true

• Amir Murillo opens up on protecting his World Cup dream after a difficult mid-season exit from Marseille forced him to move clubs just months before the tournament
• Hosted by Jackson Irvine, Season Three of Footballers Unfiltered brings together active internationals heading to the 2026 World Cup for honest, player-to-player conversations
• Murillo reflects on Panama’s rise in world football, the pressure of representing his country, and why this generation believes it can finally "make history" at the tournament 

Amir Murillo grew up watching Panama fall short of the World Cup. As a child, he would sit with his grandmother during qualifiers, hearing her say Panama would never make it because "they always lose". Murillo’s answer was simple: "When I play for the national team, then we’re going to be in the World Cup."

Years later, he helped make that promise real.

In the third episode of Footballers Unfiltered Season Three, 30-year-old Murillo joins Australia international Jackson Irvine for a conversation about pressure, sacrifice and what it takes to carry a country onto the global stage.

From the outside, Murillo’s career looks like a success story: a modern attacking full-back playing for Besiktas after spells with Marseille and Anderlecht, preparing for what could be Panama’s biggest-ever World Cup campaign.

But just months before the tournament, Murillo’s place at the World Cup was suddenly under threat. "I was training alone, just thinking to be prepared, and then be ready if I have another opportunity,” Murillo reveals, reflecting on a difficult exit from Marseille midway through the season.

To protect his World Cup dream, he uprooted everything. "I had the opportunity to come here [Besiktas] to change a different atmosphere in my mind… and to prepare better for the World Cup."

Authentic player-led conversations

That honesty is exactly what makes Season Three of Footballers Unfiltered stand apart. Host Irvine is not simply interviewing players from a distance. Preparing for the World Cup himself, the Australia international understands every calculation and emotional weight because he is living it too.

Throughout the episode, the two speak candidly about the realities players face in the months before a World Cup: fixture congestion, injury anxiety and the pressure of balancing club expectations with national pride.

"When you have the World Cup coming, and you see big players getting injured, it’s difficult," Murillo says. "Every player wants to play the World Cup."

The conversation also explores Panama’s extraordinary football journey through Murillo’s eyes. One of the episode’s standout moments comes when he recalls watching World Cup qualification with his grandmother as a child.

"She always told me, 'They will never make it because they always lose'. And I always answered, 'When I play for the national team, then we’re going to be in the World Cup'."

Years later, Murillo helped make that dream reality as Panama qualified for their first-ever World Cup in dramatic fashion in 2018.

But 2026 is something else. "In 2018 we had the legends of Panama doing their last dance. Now, we have a young team, good players, motivation. We want to make history."

Advancing would be 'beautiful' 

That balance between vulnerability and ambition runs through the entire episode. Murillo speaks openly about representing a nation still trying to establish itself in world football, and why this Panama generation believes it can finally make history.

"We’ve never won one game at the World Cup," he says. "If we have the opportunity to go through to the next round, of course it will be very beautiful for us. If we are motivated and we have a good mentality, I think we can do something special for our country."

The episode also offers lighter moments that reveal the personality behind the player such as Murillo’s admiration for Luka Modric, why he has worn the number 62 throughout his entire career and how he used to recreate Siphiwe Tshabalala’s iconic 2010 World Cup celebration as a teenager in Panama.

But beneath the humour sits a recurring theme that defines this World Cup series: footballers saying the things players rarely get the space to say publicly.

At a time when many players are increasingly guarded under constant scrutiny, Footballers Unfiltered creates space for conversations that feel genuinely player-led and real.

Watch Episode Three of Footballers Unfiltered Season Three with Irvine and Murillo in full HERE.