A look at the country’s demographics, football history and its squad status prior to the Qatar World Cup 2022.
Number of inhabitants: approx. 37 million.
Continent: North America
Confederation: CONCACAF
National Football Association: FEDEFUTBOL
Number of members: unknown (?% of total population)
International trophies won: 3x CONCACAF Championship/Gold Cup
Best World Cup result: Quarter-finals in 2014
Key Players
In the past: Wanchope, Fonseca, Centeno, Saborio.
Key current players: Keylor Navas, Joel Campbell, Celso Borges, Jewison Bennette.
Coach, formation and possible lineup
Coach: Luis Fernando Suarez. (since 2021)
Typical formation: 4-2-3-1 or 5-4-1
Possible lineup:
- GK:Keylor Navas (PSG)
- LB: Ronald Matarrita (FC Cincinnati)
- RB: Keysher Fuller (CS Herediano)
- LCB: Francisco Calvo (Konyaspor)
- RCB: Kendall Waston (Dep. Saprissa)
- CM: Celso Borges (Alajuelense)
- CM: Yeltsin Tejeda (CS Herediano)
- LW: Jewison Bennette (Sunderland)
- RW: Joel Campbell (Club Leon)
- ACM: Gerson Torres (CS Herediano)
- ST: Anthony Contreras (CS Herediano)
Age Report
Players aged 25 or under in the current lineup: 3
Players aged 32 or over in the current lineup: 3
There are 3 players in this lineup that will (most likely) be playing their last World Cup this year: Navas, Borges, and Waston.
There are 3 players in this lineup that can play at least two more: Bennette, Contreras and Torres.
The remaining 5 players could play in one or two more World Cups.
Youngest player: Jewison Bennette, born 15 June 2004 (18)
Oldest player: Keylor Navas, born 15 December 1986 (35)
Average squad age: 28.5
World Cup Qatar – Group G
Fixtures:
Wednesday 23 November Spain vs Costa Rica
Sunday 27 November Japan vs Costa Rica
Thursday 1 December Costa Rica vs Germany
Our view:
Costa Rica is not a spectacular team. You won’t find yourself watching one of their games and seeing a lot of goals, on either end. A solid defensive organization while hoping to score a goal on a counter-attack or set piece, that’s their motto. In a group with European giants Spain and Germany it feels like mission impossible for Costa Rica to qualify for the next round. But you never know in football. A sneaky win here or there and a draw or two could very well see them taking advantage should the others fail to get the wins they need. Though I would sooner see Japan taking advantage of this than Costa Rica.
