(Reuters) – Following is a statbox on Costa Rica at the World Cup.
FIFA Ranking: 31
Odds: 500-1
Previous tournaments:
Costa Rica have appeared in five World Cups since their debut in 1990. Their best performance came in 2014 when they topped a group with Uruguay, Italy and England before they were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Netherlands on penalties.
However, they crashed out in the group stage of the 2018 World Cup after finishing bottom without a win.
How they qualified:
Costa Rica failed to grab an automatic berth after finishing fourth in the CONCACAF qualifiers behind Canada, Mexico and the United States. They had an identical record to the U.S. but missed out on third spot due to goal difference.
Six of Costa Rica’s seven wins were by one-goal margins and that trend continued in the inter-confederation playoff where they beat New Zealand 1-0 in June to qualify.
Form guide:
Since beating the U.S. in their final World Cup qualifier, Costa Rica have had mixed results in the CONCACAF Nations League, losing to Panama but beating Martinique.
However, they stepped up their preparations for the World Cup in September with a 2-2 draw against South Korea after going down to 10 men, following it up with a morale-boosting 2-1 win over Uzbekistan when both of their goals came in injury time.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
