World Cup 2022 team guides part 17: Costa Rica
This article is part of the Guardian’s World Cup 2022 Experts’ Network, a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 32 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from two countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 20 November.
The plan
This cycle for the Costa Rica national team can be divided into before the arrival of the coach, Luis Fernando Suárez, and after. The Colombian arrived like a whirlwind in the middle of 2021 and, despite having very little time, set about a generational revamp that took everyone by surprise. He gave debuts to 22 players in 15 months, 11 of them in qualifiers. In total he tried a remarkable 77 players. “It was a bit too much at one point,” Suárez admitted. “Something was lost.”
He got off to a tough start, being eliminated by Canada in the 2021 Gold Cup quarter-finals and picking up just six points from the first seven games in World Cup qualifying. But in the narrow away defeats against USA and Canada it all started to come together. A new team was taking shape, with several players either in their teens or having just turned 20. The 18-year-old winger Jewison Bennette was one of them and he played a part in a transformation of form that brought 19 points out of a possible 21 from the last seven games and an intercontinental playoff for a World Cup spot. Against New Zealand they produced a hallmark Costa Rican performance, strong in defence with two sturdy banks of four and a goalkeeper, Keylor Navas, in inspirational form.
Quick Guide
Costa Rica group fixtures
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This Costa Rica team does not score a lot of goals (13 in 14 qualifiers) but they concede even fewer, with Navas hugely important and Óscar Duarte and Francisco Calvo a strong central defence pairing. Going forward the team rely on speedy counterattacks, using the distribution skills Celso Borges and Joel Campbell to unleash the pace of Bennette and Anthony Contreras.
So much has changed in the past 15 months that the players believe La Tricolor can achieve something special. “We want to go to the World Cup with the aim of winning it. Many will say that we are crazy but let them think that then,” said the defender Kendall Waston.
The coach
This will be Luis Fernando Suárez’s third World Cup, an astonishing achievement by the 62-year-old who led Ecuador to the last 16 at the 2006 tournament and Honduras eight years later, when they failed to get out of the group. “The World Cup is an obsession,” he told Fifa.com this year, “and that is why I had to accept the Costa Rica job.” The playoff win over New Zealand earned him a contract extension until 2026.
Star player
He may be 35 now but Keylor Navas is still the most prominent Costa Rican player in world football. The three-times Champions League winner with Real Madrid has not been played at all for PSG this season because of Gianluigi Donnarumma but appears to have lost none of his sharp reflexes when on duty with Costa Rica. He remains the leader on and off the pitch. “My faith is the most important thing,” he said while playing in Spain. “It changed my life. It filled a void in my heart.”
Keylor Navas takes command in a crowd penalty area during the playoff win over and New Zealand. Photograph: Karim Jaafar/AFP/Getty Images
Unsung Hero
The 30-year-old Francisco Calvo arrives in Qatar without the spotlight on him but maybe it should be as the leader of a defence that conceded only eight goals in 14 World Cup qualifiers. He featured in 13 of those games, the outfield player who played the most minutes. He speaks four languages – Spanish, Portuguese, English and French – and pops up with the odd important goal too. Joined Konyaspor in Turkey from San Jose Earthquakes last summer.
Probable lineup
Qatar stance
The team have been very quiet when it comes to the situation in Qatar. Neither players and coaching staff nor the Costa Rican Football Federation (FCRF) have referred to the human rights or migrant workers’ rights in the buildup to the tournament. Players are not normally very vocal when it comes to political issues so that is perhaps no surprise.
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National anthem
The Himno Nacional de Costa Rica has been in place since 1852. Its music was composed by Manuel María Gutiérrez Flores and its lyrics were written by José María Zeledón Brenes in 1903. It was declared official on 10 June 1949. One of the most significant parts is the following: “Hail, oh country! Your prodigal soil, sweet shelter and sustenance gives us; under the limpid blue of your sky, long live work and peace!” The anthem highlights the love for the country as well as the hardworking and peaceful spirit of its citizens. Costa Rica does not have an army.
All-time cult heroes
Two names should be mentioned here: Paulo Wanchope and Bryan Ruiz. Wanchope became a cult hero in England with Derby, West Ham and Manchester City and scored three World Cup goals for his country, two of them against Germany in 2006. However, Ruiz probably just edges it with a record number of World Cup games (eight) for Los Ticos – with the promise of more to come in 2022. He was also prominent in Costa Rica’s biggest feat so far, when they reached the quarter-finals in 2014, scoring against Italy in the group and Greece in the last 16.
Esteban Valverde and Cristian Brenes write for La Nacion. Follow Esteban here and Christian here on Twitter.