In this blog we will be taking a comprehensive look at the Costa Rica national football team and their chances at the FIFA World Cup. Are you a supporter of the Costa Rica football team? Check out betting tips and odds at LV BET Sportsbook and place your bets on your favourite team.
Costa Rica has qualified for six FIFA World Cup finals, namely in 1990, 2002, 2006, 2014, 2018 and 2022. Their best performance to date was in the 2014 edition, where they reached the quarter-finals.
Next November in Qatar, Costa Rica will be playing in their third consecutive FIFA World Cup, something that they have never done before. In 2018, the Costa Rica national football team were eliminated in the group stage as they lost two and drew the other game.
Read on to learn more about:
- Costa Rica football team FIFA World Cup history
- Costa Rica road to Qatar
- Costa Rica squad
- LV BET betting tips on Costa Rica
Costa Rica at the FIFA World Cup
The story of Costa Rica in the FIFA World Cup started in 1990, which is quite late especially when the competition started in 1930. The first time they made it to the FIFA World Cup, Costa Rica managed to reach the Round of 16. The group consisted of Scotland, Sweden and Brazil, where Costa Rica claimed second place after winning against Sweden and Scotland. But against Czechoslovakia, the Costa Rica national football team were got beat 4-1, ending their first appearance in the FIFA World Cup.
Christian Bolanos is the record player that has played for the Costa Rica national team, with a total of nine World Cup matches to his name. He featured in the 2006, 2014 and 2018 World Cups. The top goalscorers for Costa Rica are tied between Ronald Gomez and Paulo Wanchope at three goals.
The only player to ever be awarded an individual award in the FIFA World Cup was Luis Gabelo Conejo, who won the Golden Glove in 1990, which was shared.
Costa Rica’s successes and failures at the previous FIFA World Cup
The success story OF the 2014 FIFA World Cup was surely Costa Rica. In the group, they were matched with Uruguay, Italy and England, a very good and competitive group. Costa Rica started off with a 3-1 win against Uruguay, which surprised a lot of people; they then followed it up and won 1-0 against Italy. In the last match of the group against England, Costa Rica drew, seeing them confirm top of the group for the very first time in their history. In the round of 16, Costa Rica got Greece. In the 52nd minute of the game, Ruiz got his Costa Rica squad into the lead, and the people believed that there might be a chance of making it through. At the very end of the game, in the 91st minute to be exact, Papastathopoulos scored for Greece, pushing the tie to extra time. In the additional 30 minutes played, no team could break the deadlock; thus, Penalties followed. Costa Rica scored all five penalties, but Greece failed to score their fourth one taken by Gekas. Costa Rica made it to the quarter-final of a FIFA World cup. In the quarter-final, they faced the Netherlands and what a contest that was. The Netherlands had the upper hand for most of the game, hitting the framework on three occasions. Headlines were made as just before the penalty shootout, the Netherlands changed their goalkeeper, which eventually was the hero for the Dutch. You can watch the highlights here.
The worst appearance for the Costa Rica national team was in 2006, when they lost all three games played in the group conceding a total of eight goals. In the first game, Germany won 4-2, after that Ecuador won 3-0 and in the last game Poland inched it by winning 2-1.
Costa Rica’s road to the Qatar 2022 World Cup
Costa Rica national team got fourth place in the World Cup qualifiers, just behind the USA. As they failed to make it to the top three places, they had to go to a playoff final that was played against New Zealand a couple of weeks ago.
Costa Rica scored their one and only goal in the game in the third minute, and they defended their lead gallantly. New Zealand had 67% possession with four shots on target, but they could not make their pressure pay off. In the 69th minute, Kosta Barbarouses was sent off after a rash tackle, making it even more difficult for the All Whites.
Who will Costa Rica play against at the Qatar 2022 World Cup?
Costa Rica will participate in Group E in next November’s FIFA World Cup. The other teams in this group are Germany, Spain and Japan – many people are tipping this group to be the group of death with a lot of talented national teams pinned against one another.
The fixtures for the Costa Rica national team are as follows:
- Spain vs Costa Rica 23 November 2022 17:00 AI Thumama Stadium
- Japan vs Costa Rica 27 November 2022 11:00 AI Rayyan Stadium
- Costa Rica vs Germany 1 December 2022 20:00 AI Bayt Stadium
Costa Rica squad for the World Cup in Qatar
Most of the Costa Rica national football team squad plays in the first tier of football in Costa Rica itself. Some of the few players that play their football outside the country are, Keylor Navas, who is currently playing with Paris Saint-Germain and Ian Lawrence, who plays with Copenhagen.
Keylor Navas will be playing his last FIFA World Cup for his national team after serving his team greatly. He will surely be busy throughout the group stage games as he and his squad will be up against it.
The average age of the squad is 27.17 with a total market value of €17.85 Million.
Luis Fernando Suarez will be leading the Costa Rica national football team players to their sixth World Cup finals. Suarez is a Colombian football manager who is currently manager of the Costa Rica national football team. He has been in charge of the national team since 2021
Where to see FIFA World Cup 2022 matches in Costa Rica?
All around Costa Rica, there will be places where you can enjoy a nice meal whilst watching the Costa Rica National team in action. Kick-off times will vary depending on the fixture, but all will be played in the late or early afternoon.
You will be able to watch all the action unfold in all FIFA World Cup license holders as well as bars and restaurants that own the rights to show the matches.
For more information, please visit the official FIFA website here.
Qatar FIFA World Cup 2022 tickets — prices, sale dates and tournament stages
For more information regarding ticket sales and accessibility tickets, please visit the official website here.
All tickets are sold in Qatari riyal (QAR) to both residents of Qatar and International fans.
| FIFA World Cup round | Category I | Category II | Category III |
| Opening match | 2,250 | 1,600 | 1,100 |
| Group phase | 800 | 600 | 250 |
| 1/8 final | 1,000 | 750 | 350 |
| Quarterfinal | 1,550 | 1,050 | 750 |
| Semifinal | 3,480 | 2,400 | 1,300 |
| Match for 3rd place | 1,550 | 1,100 | 750 |
| Final | 5,850 | 3,650 | 2,200 |
Betting tips and odds on the Costa Rica National team
Costa Rica will be playing in Group E, against Spain, Germany and Japan. It will be a very competitive group with a lot of talent on display for each side. We are sure that the games will be entertaining for all.
Spain are the slight favourites to win the group at 9/11 (1.82), slightly ahead of Germany who find themselves priced at 6/5 (2.20). Third likely to get the top spot of the group is Japan who are at 10/1 (11.00), whilst Costa Rica are the least likely to make it out of the group at 33/1 (34.00)
Bets on the Costa Rica National Football team at LV BET
The first fixture for Costa Rica will be up against Spain who are the favourites to win the Group. It will be a tough game for the South American side as they are priced at 11/1 (12.00) whilst Spain are at 2/7 (1.28)
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