Costa Rica national football team

Costa Rica national team at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia

The national team made its debut in the Independence Centenary Games held in Guatemala City in September 1921, winning their first game 7–0 against El Salvador. In the final, Costa Rica defeated 6–0 Guatemala to claim the trophy.[5]

Costa Rica's team in the late 1940s acquired the nickname "The Gold Shorties".[6] Throughout the '50s and '60s, they were the second strongest team in the CONCACAF zone behind Mexico, finishing runners-up in World Cup qualifying in the 1958, 1962 and 1966 qualifiers. Stars of the side during this period included Ruben Jimenez, Errol Daniels, Leonel Hernandez and Edgar Marin. However, Costa Rica was not able to utilize this advantage, hence failed to reach any World Cup at that decade.

At the end of the 1960s their fortunes declined as Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Haiti, Trinidad & Tobago and Canada rose in prominence.

Costa Rica failed to qualify for any of the World Cups in the 1970s and 1980s, and did not reach the final round of the CONCACAF qualifying until the 1986 qualifiers.

They participated in two consecutive Summer Olympic Games, in Moscow 1980 and in Los Angeles 1984. In 1980, Costa Rica competed against Yugoslavia, Finland and Iraq in Group D, losing 3–2, 3–0 and 3–0 respectively. In Los Angeles, the Ticos lost 3–0 against the United States, and 4–1 against Egypt, but beat a strong Italy team, which included Walter Zenga, Pietro Vierchowod, Franco Baresi and Aldo Serena, 1–0 with a goal by the midfielder Enrique Rivers.

Costa Rica won the 1989 CONCACAF Championship to qualify for the finals of a World Cup for the first time. In the first round of the qualifiers, they beat Panama 3–1 on aggregate after a 2–0 away victory in the second leg, with goals by Juan Arnoldo Cayasso and Hernán Medford. They were drawn against Mexico in the second round, but advanced automatically when their opponents were disqualified for youth player age tampering.

Costa Rica started the final qualifying group stage with a home victory and an away defeat against both Guatemala and the United States. They drew 1–1 with Trinidad and Tobago and then beat the same opponents 1–0 at home with a goal by Cayasso. They achieved an important away win, 4–2 against El Salvador at the Estadio Cuscatlán, with goals from Carlos Mario Hidalgo, Cayasso and a double from Leonidas Flores, before beating El Salvador 1–0 in San José with a goal from Pastor Fernández. They finished first in the group table, ahead of the United States on goal difference.

Italy 1990, or Italia 90, is considered a seminal moment in Costa Rican football history. In particular, the players are notable for being primarily non-professionals, in that most players had other jobs and did not make a living playing football. Due to the success of the team during the World Cup, a number of the squad members went on to success in Costa Rican football (and international, in the case of Conejo).

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Costa Rica	8	5	1	2	10	6	+4	11
United States	8	4	3	1	6	3	+3	11
Trinidad and Tobago	8	3	3	2	7	5	+2	9
Guatemala	6	1	1	4	4	7	−3	3
El Salvador	6	0	2	4	2	8	−6	2

Placed in Group C at the World Cup finals, Costa Rica began by beating Scotland 1–0 thanks to another goal by Cayasso. Although they lost to Brazil by the same score, they came from behind to beat Sweden 2–1 in their final group match to reach the knockout stages. There, they lost 4–1 to Czechoslovakia, for whom Tomáš Skuhravý scored a hat-trick.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Brazil	3	3	0	0	4	1	+3	6	Advance to knockout stage
2	Costa Rica	3	2	0	1	3	2	+1	4
3	Scotland	3	1	0	2	2	3	−1	2
4	Sweden	3	0	0	3	3	6	−3	0

Costa Rica failed to qualify for World Cups in 1994 and 1998, but they were invited to the Copa América for the first time in 1997. In the tournament, held in Bolivia, they finished bottom of first round Group C behind Brazil, Mexico and Colombia, with just one point. Costa Rica's friendlies in this period included a 5–4 defeat against Uruguay in the Estadio Centenario.

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Brazil	3	3	0	0	10	2	+8	9
Mexico	3	1	1	1	5	5	0	4
Colombia	3	1	0	2	5	5	0	3
Costa Rica	3	0	1	2	2	10	−8	1

They returned to the Copa América in Colombia in 2001. On this occasion they finished top of their first round group, but lost 2–1 in the quarter-finals to Uruguay.

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Costa Rica	3	2	1	0	6	1	+5	7
Honduras	3	2	0	1	3	1	+2	6
Uruguay	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4
Bolivia	3	0	0	3	0	7	−7	0

The Ticos won the qualification for the 2002 World Cup held in South Korea and Japan. During the qualifiers, Costa Rica were coached by the Brazilian, Gílson Nunes, and then by the naturalised Brazilian, Alexandre Guimarães. The first qualifying group stage began with an unexpected 2–1 defeat to Barbados. After this humiliation, Costa Rica beat the United States 2–1 at the Ricardo Saprissa Stadium, with goals from Rolando Fonseca and Hernán Medford. They then beat Guatemala 2–1 in the Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto, with two goals from Paulo Wanchope and Barbados 3–0 at the Ricardo Saprissa, with goals from Jafet Soto, Fonseca and Medford. A draw against the United States and a 2–1 defeat to Guatemala forced Costa Rica into a play-off against Guatemala in Miami. Costa Rica won 5–2 with two goals from Fonseca and one each from Wanchope, Reynaldo Parks and Jafeth Soto.

Costa Rica displayed fine attacking form during the final qualifying round, beginning with a 2–2 draw against Honduras at the Ricardo Saprissa, with goals from Fonseca and Rodrigo Cordero, and a 3–0 defeat of Trinidad and Tobago at the Morera Soto. Their only loss in this round came when the United States beat them 1–0. Costa Rica bounced back with a 2–1 win against Mexico in Mexico City, a match known as the Aztecazo,[7] with goals from Fonseca and Medford. Further wins over Jamaica, Honduras and Trinidad and Tobago took Costa Rica to the brink of qualification, which they sealed with an emotional 2–0 win against the United States in the Saprissa, with a double from Fonseca.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Costa Rica	10	7	2	1	17	7	+10	23	Qualified to the 2002 FIFA World Cup
2	Mexico	10	5	2	3	16	9	+7	17
3	United States	10	5	2	3	11	8	+3	17
4	Honduras	10	4	2	4	17	17	0	14
5	Jamaica	10	2	2	6	7	14	−7	8
6	Trinidad and Tobago	10	1	2	7	5	18	−13	5

In the finals, Costa Rica were drawn into Group C with Brazil, China, and Turkey. Their campaign started in Gwangju, where the Ticos beat China 2–0. In their second game against Turkey in Incheon, Winston Parks scored an 86th-minute goal to earn a 1–1 draw. Against Brazil, Costa Rica fought back from 3–0 down to 3–2 early in the second half, only to concede two further goals and lose 5–2. With Turkey beating China 3–0, Costa Rica finished behind Turkey on goal difference and were eliminated.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Brazil	3	3	0	0	11	3	+8	9	Advance to knockout stage
2	Turkey	3	1	1	1	5	3	+2	4
3	Costa Rica	3	1	1	1	5	6	−1	4
4	China	3	0	0	3	0	9	−9	0

Costa Rica again managed to qualify for the World Cup finals in 2006, albeit with difficulties that saw their American coach Steve Sampson depart after they required away goals to beat Cuba in the preliminary phase. The Colombian Jorge Luis Pinto took over for the next round, which began with a disastrous 5–2 defeat at home against Honduras and a 2–1 loss in Guatemala. Costa Rica recovered with two wins over Canada and a resounding 5–0 triumph over Guatemala, when Wanchope scored a hat-trick and Carlos Hernández and Fonseca added further goals. Costa Rica advanced to the hexagonal round by winning the group.

In the final round they started with a 2–1 defeat against Mexico at the Saprissa, before beating Panama by the same score, with goals from Wayne Wilson and Roy Myrie. Pinto was dismissed after a goalless draw with Trinidad and Tobago, and Guimarães returned as coach. His first match ended in a 3–0 defeat to the United States, but wins followed against Guatemala, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago. Costa Rica decisively beat the United States in the Saprissa, 3–0, with a goal from Wanchope and two from Hernández, to guarantee their third World Cup qualification.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	United States	10	7	1	2	16	6	+10	22[lower-alpha 1]		—	2–0	3–0	1–0	2–0	2–0
2	Mexico	10	7	1	2	22	9	+13	22[lower-alpha 1]		2–1	—	2–0	2–0	5–2	5–0
3	Costa Rica	10	5	1	4	15	14	+1	16		3–0	1–2	—	2–0	3–2	2–1
4	Trinidad and Tobago	10	4	1	5	10	15	−5	13		1–2	2–1	0–0	—	3–2	2–0
5	Guatemala	10	3	2	5	16	18	−2	11		0–0	0–2	3–1	5–1	—	2–1
6	Panama	10	0	2	8	4	21	−17	2		0–3	1–1	1–3	0–1	0–0	—

On 9 June 2006, Costa Rica made their debut in Munich in the opening match of the World Cup against the hosts, Germany. Wanchope scored to equalise an early goal from Philipp Lahm, and later added another, but Costa Rica lost 4–2. However, they failed to match this encouraging performance in their remaining two games, losing 3–0 against Ecuador and 2–1 against Poland in a dead rubber.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Germany (H)	3	3	0	0	8	2	+6	9	Advance to knockout stage
2	Ecuador	3	2	0	1	5	3	+2	6
3	Poland	3	1	0	2	2	4	−2	3
4	Costa Rica	3	0	0	3	3	9	−6	0

Costa Rica began the qualifying competition for the 2010 World Cup against Grenada, winning 5–2 on aggregate (2–2, 3–0). They won all six games played in the next phase, against El Salvador (1–0, 3–1), Haiti (3–1, 2–0) and Suriname (7–0, 4–1).

With two games left in the Hexagonal round, Costa Rica trailed Honduras by one point in trying to win the third automatic qualification place behind the United States and Mexico. When Honduras lost 3–2 at home to the United States, Costa Rica overtook them with a 4–0 win against Trinidad and Tobago. Needing to win the final match in Washington, D.C. against the United States to ensure qualification, the Ticos led 2–0 at half-time, but Jonathan Bornstein scored an injury-time equaliser to draw the match 2–2. Meanwhile, Honduras's 1–0 victory over El Salvador moved them into third place in the group table on goal difference.

Costa Rica finished fourth, pushing them into a play-off with the fifth-placed team from the CONMEBOL region, Uruguay. The Ticos lost the first leg in San José 1–0, after a goal by Diego Lugano, and finished with ten men after Randall Azofeifa was sent off. In the second leg, played at the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo, Sebastián Abreu put Uruguay ahead twenty minutes from time, and although Walter Centeno equalised, the 1–1 draw sent Uruguay to the World Cup finals, 2–1 on aggregate.

After failing to qualify, the team began a new era, with the young talent of players such as Azofeifa, Keylor Navas, Cristian Bolaños, Michael Barrantes and Joel Campbell. Rónald González was the interim coach before Ricardo La Volpe was appointed in September 2010. He lasted only ten months before being replaced by the Colombian, Jorge Luis Pinto, in his second spell in charge. During this period, Costa Rica played many friendlies against the top-ranked teams in the world, including the world champion Spain, most of them in the new national stadium, the Estadio Nacional, which was opened in 2011.

The Ticos' 2014 World Cup campaign began with a 2–2 draw against El Salvador in the third round of the qualifiers. They followed this with a 4–0 win over Guyana with a hat-trick by Álvaro Saborío. Two defeats to Mexico put the Ticos one defeat away from elimination, but they resurrected their campaign with a 1–0 win against El Salvador, with the only goal scored by José Miguel Cubero. They clinched a final round berth with a 7–0 win over Guyana, with goals scored by Randall Brenes, Saborío, Cristian Bolaños, Celso Borges and Cristian Gamboa.

The fourth round began with a 2–2 draw against Panama. In March, Costa Rica lost 1–0 against the United States in Denver, and launched an unsuccessful appeal against the match because of inclement weather.[8] Costa Rica again fell 1–0 to the United States in the Gold Cup that June.[9] Costa Rica then won 2–0 against Jamaica, beat Honduras 1–0 against, drew 0–0 at the Azteca against Mexico and won at home 2–0 against Panama. In September, they won 3–1 against the United States in San José.

On 10 September 2013, Costa Rica drew 1–1 with Jamaica, thanks to a goal from Brenes, to qualify with two games to spare. After a 1–0 loss at Honduras and 2–1 win over Mexico in October, Costa Rica finished second in the table, behind the United States.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	United States	10	7	1	2	15	8	+7	22	Qualification to 2014 FIFA World Cup		—	1–0	1–0	2–0	2–0	2–0
2	Costa Rica	10	5	3	2	13	7	+6	18			3–1	—	1–0	2–1	2–0	2–0
3	Honduras	10	4	3	3	13	12	+1	15			2–1	1–0	—	2–2	2–2	2–0
4	Mexico	10	2	5	3	7	9	−2	11	Advance to inter-confederation play-offs		0–0	0–0	1–2	—	2–1	0–0
5	Panama	10	1	5	4	10	14	−4	8			2–3	2–2	2–0	0–0	—	0–0
6	Jamaica	10	0	5	5	5	13	−8	5			1–2	1–1	2–2	0–1	1–1	—

Costa Rica were drawn in finals Group D against three previous tournament winners – Italy, England and Uruguay – and were given odds of 2500–1 to win the tournament. However, they beat Uruguay and Italy and drew 0–0 with England to finish top of the group and qualify for the knockout stage.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Costa Rica	3	2	1	0	4	1	+3	7	Advance to knockout stage
2	Uruguay	3	2	0	1	4	4	0	6
3	Italy	3	1	0	2	2	3	−1	3
4	England	3	0	1	2	2	4	−2	1

In the second round, they beat Greece 5–3 on penalties after a 1–1 draw, seeing them through to the quarter-finals for the first time. There, they held the Netherlands to a 0–0 draw after extra time, before losing 4–3 on penalties. Costa Rica rose 12 places to 16th in the FIFA World Rankings. Former player Rónald González cited their long-term progress since 2007 as the reason for their achievement.[10]

The Ticos' qualification for the 2018 World Cup started with a bye to the fourth qualifying round, where they won five games and drew one, winning their group. In the final round, they finished second behind Mexico to qualify automatically, winning four matches, drawing four and losing two.

{{2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – CONCACAF Fifth Round |expanded=yes |fixtures=yes |scenarios=yes }} Costa Rica were drawn in Group E alongside Brazil, Switzerland and Serbia. Many key players from 2014 tournament remained in the squad, but they made a disappointing exit at the group stage. Costa Rica lost their first two games, against Serbia and Brazil, without scoring, but drew 2–2 with Switzerland in their last match after equalising in injury time.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Brazil	3	2	1	0	5	1	+4	7	Advance to knockout stage
2	Switzerland	3	1	2	0	5	4	+1	5
3	Serbia	3	1	0	2	2	4	−2	3
4	Costa Rica	3	0	1	2	2	5	−3	1

Caretaker managers are listed in italics.

The following 26 players were called up for the friendlies against South Korea and Uzbekistan on 23 and 27 September 2022, respectively.[11]

Caps and goals as of 23 September 2022, after the match against South Korea.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Esteban Alvarado	(1989-04-28) 28 April 1989	24	0	Herediano
18	1GK	Aarón Cruz	(1991-05-25) 25 May 1991	2	0	Saprissa
23	1GK	Patrick Sequeira	(1999-03-01) 1 March 1999	1	0	Lugo
3	2DF	Juan Pablo Vargas	(1995-06-06) 6 June 1995	11	1	Millonarios
4	2DF	Keysher Fuller	(1994-07-12) 12 July 1994	29	2	Herediano
6	2DF	Óscar Duarte	(1989-06-03) 3 June 1989	70	3	Al-Wehda
8	2DF	Bryan Oviedo	(1990-02-18) 18 February 1990	74	2	Real Salt Lake
15	2DF	Francisco Calvo	(1992-07-08) 8 July 1992	75	8	Konyaspor
19	2DF	Kendall Waston	(1988-01-01) 1 January 1988	61	7	Saprissa
22	2DF	Carlos Martínez	(1999-03-30) 30 March 1999	5	0	San Carlos
2	3MF	Daniel Chacón	(2001-04-11) 11 April 2001	7	0	Cartaginés
5	3MF	Celso Borges	(1988-05-27) 27 May 1988	154	27	Alajuelense
9	3MF	Jewison Bennette	(2004-06-15) 15 June 2004	7	2	Sunderland
10	3MF	Bryan Ruiz (captain)	(1985-08-18) 18 August 1985	144	29	Alajuelense
13	3MF	Gerson Torres	(1997-08-28) 28 August 1997	13	1	Herediano
14	3MF	Orlando Galo	(2000-08-11) 11 August 2000	9	0	Herediano
16	3MF	Aarón Suárez	(2002-06-27) 27 June 2002	3	0	Alajuelense
17	3MF	Roan Wilson	(2002-05-01) 1 May 2002	2	0	Grecia
20	3MF	Brandon Aguilera	(2003-06-28) 28 June 2003	2	0	Guanacasteca
21	3MF	Carlos Mora	(2001-03-18) 18 March 2001	2	0	Alajuelense
24	3MF	Douglas López	(1998-09-21) 21 September 1998	1	0	Santos de Guápiles
25	3MF	Anthony Hernández	(2001-10-11) 11 October 2001	1	0	Puntarenas
26	3MF	Álvaro Zamora	(2002-03-09) 9 March 2002	1	0	Saprissa
7	4FW	Anthony Contreras	(2000-01-29) 29 January 2000	8	2	Herediano
11	4FW	Johan Venegas	(1988-11-27) 27 November 1988	80	11	Alajuelense
12	4FW	Joel Campbell	(1992-06-26) 26 June 1992	118	25	León

The following players have been called up within the last twelve months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Keylor Navas	(1986-12-15) 15 December 1986	107	0	Paris Saint-Germain	v.  New Zealand, 14 June 2022
GK	Leonel Moreira	(1990-04-04) 4 April 1990	24	0	Alajuelense	v.  New Zealand, 14 June 2022
GK	Kevin Briceño	(1991-10-21) 21 October 1991	1	0	Cartaginés	v.  Canada, 12 November 2021
DF	Ricardo Blanco	(1989-05-12) 12 May 1989	15	0	Saprissa	v.  New Zealand, 14 June 2022
DF	Ian Lawrence	(2002-05-28) 28 May 2002	3	0	Alajuelense	v.  New Zealand, 14 June 2022
DF	Juan Luis Pérez	(1999-06-29) 29 June 1999	0	0	San Carlos	v.  New Zealand, 14 June 2022
DF	Rónald Matarrita	(1994-07-09) 9 July 1994	52	3	FC Cincinnati	v.  Canada, 24 March 2022 INJ
DF	Cristian Gamboa INJ	(1989-10-24) 24 October 1989	79	3	VfL Bochum	2022 WCQ matches, November 2021
DF	Fernán Faerrón	(2000-08-22) 22 August 2000	0	0	HamKam	2022 WCQ matches, November 2021
MF	Yeltsin Tejeda	(1992-03-17) 17 March 1992	73	0	Herediano	v.  New Zealand, 14 June 2022
MF	Allen Guevara	(1989-04-16) 16 April 1989	15	0	Cartaginés	v.  New Zealand, 14 June 2022
MF	Alonso Martínez	(1998-10-15) 15 October 1998	12	0	Lommel	v.  United States, 30 March 2022
MF	Youstin Salas	(1996-06-17) 17 June 1996	3	0	Grecia	v.  United States, 30 March 2022
MF	Douglas López	(1998-09-21) 21 September 1998	1	0	Santos de Guápiles	v.  United States, 30 March 2022
MF	Aarón Suárez	(2002-06-27) 27 June 2002	3	0	Alajuelense	v.  Jamaica, 2 February 2022
MF	Jefry Valverde	(1995-06-10) 10 June 1995	2	0	San Carlos	v.  Jamaica, 2 February 2022
MF	Randall Leal	(1997-01-14) 14 January 1997	26	0	Nashville SC	v.  Panama, 27 January 2022 ILL
MF	Allan Cruz	(1996-02-24) 24 February 1996	24	2	FC Cincinnati	v.  Canada, 12 November 2021
FW	Daniel Colindres	(1985-01-10) 10 January 1985	17	5	Dhaka Abahani	v.  United States, 30 March 2022
INJ Withdraw due to injury. ILL Withdraw due to illness. PRE Preliminary squad. WD Withdrew for personal reasons.

FIFA World Cup record											Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA	Squad		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930	Did not enter										Did not enter
1934
1938
1950
1954
1958	Did not qualify										6	4	1	1	16	7
1962											9	5	1	3	22	14
1966											8	5	2	1	17	3
1970											4	2	1	1	7	3
1974											2	0	1	1	4	5
1978											6	1	4	1	8	6
1982											8	1	4	3	6	10
1986											8	2	5	1	10	8
1990	Round of 16	13th	4	2	0	2	4	6	Squad		10	6	2	2	13	7
1994	Did not qualify										8	4	0	4	16	11
1998											16	7	3	6	22	17
2002	Group stage	19th	3	1	1	1	5	6	Squad		17	11	3	3	31	10
2006		31st	3	0	0	3	3	9	Squad		18	8	4	6	30	25
2010	Did not qualify										20	12	3	5	41	22
2014	Quarter-finals	8th	5	2	3	0	5	2	Squad		16	8	4	4	27	12
2018	Group stage	29th	3	0	1	2	2	5	Squad		16	9	5	2	25	11
2022	Qualified										15	8	4	3	14	8
2026	To be determined										To be determined
Total	Quarter-finals	6/22	18	5	5	8	19	28	—		187	93	47	47	309	184

FIFA World Cup history
First Match	Costa Rica 1–0 Scotland  (11 June 1990; Genoa, Italy)
Biggest Win	Uruguay 1–3 Costa Rica  (14 June 2014; Fortaleza, Brazil)
Biggest Defeat	Costa Rica 2–5 Brazil  (13 June 2002; Suwon, South Korea)
Best Result	Quarter-finals (2014)
Worst Result	Group stage (2002, 2006, 2018)

*Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

Copa América record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA	Squad
1993*	Not invited
1995
1997	Group stage	10th	3	0	1	2	2	10	Squad
1999	Not invited
2001	Quarter-finals	5th	4	2	1	1	7	3	Squad
2004		7th	4	1	0	3	3	8	Squad
2007	Not invited
2011	Group stage	9th	3	1	0	2	2	4	Squad
2015	Not invited
2016	Group stage	10th	3	1	1	1	3	6	Squad
2019	Not invited
2021
Total	Quarter-finals	5/12	17	5	3	9	17	31	—

*Ecuador 1993 was the first time nations from outside CONMEBOL were invited.