Costa Rica will make their sixth appearance at the World Cup on the back of some sensational form. Since taking over in June 2021, current manager Luis Fernando Suarez has overseen eight victories in the team’s last 11 games. The crucial, unanswered goal by ex-Arsenal striker Joel Campbell in the playoff game that took Los Ticos to the World Cup at the cost of New Zealand was arguably the most significant of those back in June.
There is no escaping the truth that for many of the seasoned players of the team, Qatar 2022 will be their last game: Celso Borges, who holds the record for most appearances, is 34, defender Kendall Waston will turn 35 in January, the aforementioned Campbell is 30, and veteran captain Bryan Ruiz, who has played more than 100 times for Fulham, turned 37 in August. However, there are a tonne of promising young players emerging, which significantly lowers the squad’s average age. One of them is Jewison Bennette, a teenager from Sunderland who last year broke the record for the nation’s youngest player, while another is Brandon Aguilera, a midfielder from Nottingham Forest who signed a contract in the summer. Since being appointed in June of last year, Suarez appears to have prioritized integrating children.
Costa Rica might have already secured a World Cup spot had their qualifying campaign started off more well, long before they ultimately qualified for the final play-off back in June. Instead, they were made to go the difficult route. Ronald Gonzalez was fired as manager in June 2021 following a stretch of just one victory in 14 games. Even after Luis Fernando Suarez took over as manager soon after, it took the Los Ticos a while to get back on track. In the CONCACAF Gold Cup last year, they advanced to the quarterfinals, although they only earned two points in their first three World Cup qualifying matches, against Panama, Mexico, and Jamaica.
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