With the 2022 FIFA World Cup kicking off in 15 days, it’s time to explore one of Group E’s biggest underdogs – La Tricolor of Costa Rica.
Every day until November 20th, we’ll explore a different team represented in this year’s tournament, from Group A to Group H, including predictions about where they’ll end up.
Yesterday, we looked at Spain’s Red Fury, one of Group E’s favorites. We’ll now look at their competition, starting with Costa Rica.
Costa Rica
Group E
Nickname: Los Ticos, La Sele, La Tricolor
Colors: Red, blue, white
Location:
Coach: Luis Fernando Suárez (Colombia)
Top Players:
PSG goalkeeper Keylor Navas is a Los Ticos legend, probably the best of all time. The rest of La Sele lacks the same name recognition – captain Bryan Ruiz has the most goals (29), followed by Celso Borges (27) and forward Joel Campbell (25).
Team History:
Qatar will mark the sixth World Cup appearance for La Sele. Their best result came in 2014 when they lost to the Netherlands on penalties in the quarterfinals. Costa Rica has been on fire in 2022, going 8-2-1, defeating and tying higher-seeded opponents like Mexico, Canada, the US, and South Korea. The Costa Ricans are in form – but can they survive their group of death?
Tournament Prediction: Group stage exit.
If Costa Rica were in almost any other group, they’d have a really good chance of making the knockout stages. But Group E is almost impossible to win. Germany and Spain are obviously top contenders, but Japan is also an excellent and disciplined team. Costa Rica opens against Spain, and we think the Red Fury will be too much for CR. La Tricolor could shock the Japanese with a tie or a win, but we think Germany takes down Los Ticos in their final game, sending La Tricolor home with between 1-3 points in group play.
Featured Image: Generated Image: DALL-E 2/CostaRicanFootballFederation/DM
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