Costa Rica got off to quite a tumultuous start to its World Cup qualifying campaign in the Concacaf octagonal, going winless in its first four matches. After just one win from seven matches (half of the qualifying campaign), Los Ticos didn’t lose again in qualifying, collecting 19 of a possible 21 points to finish fourth in the table. Costa Rica then survived a tense intercontinental playoff against Oceania representative New Zealand in June to book a return trip to Qatar.
All in all, despite the tough start, it has been a successful run for manager Luis Fernando Suárez since he was brought in for the 2021 Gold Cup. Qatar will be Suárez’s third World Cup after 2006 with Ecuador, where he led the country to its only knockout-stage berth, and 2014 with Honduras.
This will be one of the most experienced Costa Rican sides to ever step foot at a World Cup. In Qatar, multiple players—Keylor Navas, Joel Campbell, Celso Borges, Bryan Ruiz—are expected to feature at their third World Cup and break the country’s current record of nine matches of World Cup experience. They were all a part of that special 2014 quarterfinal team that defeated Uruguay and Italy and drew England to top the Group of Death when it was expected to finish last.
