Costa Rica secures 32nd and last World Cup ticket at the expense of New Zealand

Costa Rica became the 32nd and final country to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar. The Central American side defeated New Zealand 1-0 in the intercontinental play-off match, which lasted over 20 minutes with 10 players.

Costa Rica are in Group E of the World Cup, where they will face back-to-back Spain, Japan and Germany. Earlier this month, Wales and Australia already bought their tickets for the 30th and 31st World Cups.

Joel Campbell became Costa Rica’s hero with an early goal. The country of almost five million people has been able to participate in four of the last five World Cups. Luis Fernando Suárez, now Colombia’s successful coach, led the team to the World Cup. It already did that with modest Ecuador (2006) and Honduras (2014).

Goalkeeper Navas, Costa Rica’s only star

PSG goalkeeper Keylor Navas is Costa Rica’s only star player. At least 17 of the 23 selected players are still active in their league.

Source: NOS

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