Costa Rica vs Mexico

Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica as Costa Rica and Mexico go head-to-head in an exciting CONCACAF World Cup qualifying showdown.

Costa Rica played out a dismal scoreless draw away to Panama in their 2022 World Cup qualifying curtain-raiser without attempting a single shot on target. Seeking their third consecutive World Cup finals appearance for the first time in the nation’s history, ‘Los Ticos’ will need to improve in the final third if they are to stand a chance against Mexico. The hosts have now failed to find the back of the net in three internationals in a row (D2, L1). Indeed, entertainment has been relatively sparse in Costa Rica’s recent games as each of the last four saw one or both sides draw a blank in matches garnering under 2.5 total goals. Additionally, Luis Fernando Suárez’s men have gone winless in seven straight home fixtures (D3, L4) since a 1-0 victory against Jamaica in March 2019.

Meanwhile, after suffering penalty shoot-out heartbreak against the United States in the 2021 Gold Cup grand final, Mexico claimed a tight 2-1 home win over Jamaica in their first 2022 World Cup qualifier. Defensive robust, the Mexicans have registered eight clean sheets in ten internationals since the CONCACAF Nations League grand final defeat to the USA in early June. ‘El Tri’ should be able to achieve that feat here as they’ve kept Costa Rica at bay in both previous H2Hs (D2 – 90 mins only). Odds-on favorites to seal a berth in Qatar 2022, Mexico have qualified for the World Cup finals in each of their last eight attempts since missing out on ‘Spain 1982.’ Indeed, they reached ‘Russia 2018’ in emphatic fashion, losing just one of their 16 games in that qualifying campaign (W11, D4).