World Cup preview: Costa Rica
Los Ticos are headed to their third straight World Cup
Previous World Cup appearances: 1990, 2002, 2006, 2014, 2018
Best finish: Quarterfinals (2014)
Group stage schedule: vs. Spain (Nov. 23), vs. Japan (Nov. 27), vs. Germany (Dec. 1)
Notes: All stats accurate as of Oct. 11, 2022.
The breakdown
How they qualified: Costa Rica entered the final round of Concacaf qualifying and came in fourth out of eight teams with seven wins, four draws and three losses. That sent them to the inter-confederation playoff, where they beat New Zealand thanks to a third-minute goal from Joel Campbell to book their ticket to Qatar.
Names to know:
Celso Borges (LD Alajuelense) — Primed to make his third World Cup appearance, Borges has started all eight games Los Ticos have played at the past two editions of the tournament. He also tied for the team lead with 13 appearances during qualifying, recording two goals and an assist. Borges started 94 La Liga games in four seasons with Deportivo de La Coruña and is the most-capped player in Costa Rican national team history1.
Francisco Calvo (Konyaspor) — Calvo got one start in Russia but has become an indispensable member of his national team during this World Cup cycle. He logged the most minutes of any Costa Rican player during qualifying and made three more starts than any other outfield player. The Major League Soccer veteran was sold by the San Jose Earthquakes to Turkish club Konyaspor in July2.
Joel Campbell (Club León) — By the time Campbell turned 23, he had played in three of Europe’s top five leagues with four different teams and started a World Cup quarterfinal. He made three more stops in Europe before moving to Mexico in the 2019 January transfer window where he’s been ever since. The winger has a goal and two assists in 527 World Cup minutes.
Keylor Navas (PSG) — Navas is easily the most accomplished player in Concacaf having started four Champions League finals and won three in a row with Real Madrid. He’s played every minute of the past two World Cups and is currently serving as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s backup at PSG. Nobody’s played a larger role in Costa Rica’s success over the last decade than the 35-year-old.
Yeltsin Tejeda (Herediano) — Tejeda was a constant in the starting lineup during the run to the quarterfinals in 2014 and played the fourth-most minutes during qualifying. Despite getting only eight minutes of playing time at the 2018 World Cup, he had the unfortunate distinction of being on the receiving end of one of Neymar’s rainbow flicks. He played in France and Switzerland before returning home to join Herediano.
Potential breakout star: Anthony Contreras (Herediano)
Contreras had one cap when he was called in for the final set of qualifiers and proceeded to score in back-to-back games. He then played the full 90 against New Zealand, demonstrating how much trust he’s already earned. The 22-year-old could end up being a major contributor for a team short on options up front.
The bottom line
Reason for optimism: Keylor Navas
There are goalies who can cost teams games, goalies teams can win with and goalies who can win teams games. Navas has proven time and time again he falls into the last group. It all starts with him.
Biggest question: Are there enough goals?
Costa Rica scored five goals in five games at the 2014 World Cup and two goals in three games at the 2018 World Cup. They also averaged less than a goal per game in qualifying. Being good defensively can only take a team so far.
Here’s the deal:
This team is nowhere near as dangerous as the one that nearly reached the semifinals in Brazil and is the worst team in the group on paper. That being said, Navas has bailed them out before, and he can certainly do it again.