The Estadio do Maracana was packed to the rafters and already rocking when Vinicius Junior pounced on a giveaway in midfield by Yoel Barcenas, before hammering home a long-range effort with less than a minute on the clock.
Ever the Real Madrid star in action, Vinicius then caused more trouble moments later when his shot after a jinking run was well stopped by Orlando Mosquera.
Panama would have been forgiven for succumbing to this early whirlwind, but they managed to get a foothold and surprisingly levelled just before the quarter hour mark – albeit in fortuitous fashion.
Michael Murillo’s free kick took a hefty deflection off the wall and wrong-footed Alisson before nestling in the far corner, with the equaliser ultimately going down as an own goal for the unfortunate Matheus Cunha.
Panama continued to probe, and Fidel Escobar stung the palms of Alisson from range, while Ismael Diaz spurned a couple of good opportunities for England’s Group L opponents to take a shock lead.
However, Carlo Ancelotti’s men retook the lead with just over five minutes to go until the break. It was another Vinicius effort, but his shot was this time helped on its way past Mosquera by Casemiro.
VAR confirmed that the captain was just onside when he glanced his header home to give his side the advantage at the half-time whistle.
The Brazil manager made 10 changes at the break and, after Endrick came close to a third, Mosquera’s poor clearance was seized upon by Rayan.
The Bournemouth man still had work to do but curled home brilliantly into the unguarded net for his first senior international goal in just his second cap.
Wholesale changes often slow a side’s momentum but for Brazil it did the opposite as they got their fourth on the hour mark. Douglas Santos made good ground and rolled a pass along the edge of the box for Lucas Paqueta to stroke home via a deflection.
The onslaught did not end there and Mosquera’s difficult night continued as he felled Igor Thiago in the box. The Brentford striker dusted himself off to confidently roll his penalty into the bottom corner for the Selecao’s fifth.
Brazil were not finished yet either as the “second half team” continued to give Ancelotti selection headaches. It was Danilo Santos who latched on to Paqueta’s cute lofted pass and showed great footwork to control, steady himself and finish beautifully.
Thomas Christiansen’s men looked shell-shocked but, to their credit, they stuck at it and scored arguably the goal of the game in this high-scoring affair.
After Jose Fajardo battled for possession on the edge of the box, he laid it off for Carlos Harvey to hammer home from all of 25 yards, giving the hitherto untroubled Ederson no chance.
Brazil will travel to the United States to tackle Egypt in a final friendly before their tournament opener against Morocco in just under a fortnight. This was always going to be a tough night for Panama and they can look forward to taking on Ghana in their World Cup curtain raiser in 17 days’ time.