MIAMI, Florida – Costa Rica gave their fans quite a memorable ride at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, with plenty of thrills and memorable moments during the Ticos’ three games in Group E.
Despite starting the tournament with a defeat to Spain, it was a history-making evening for promising youngster Jewison Bennette. At the tender age of 18 years and 161 days, Bennette became Costa Rica’s youngest player ever in a Senior Men’s World Cup match when he started against La Roja.
Costa Rica players line up for a team photo prior to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Group E match between Spain and Costa Rica at Al Thumama Stadium on November 23, 2022 in Doha, Qatar.
In that same match, history was made at the other end of the spectrum, with veteran winger Bryan Ruiz becoming the oldest Costa Rica player in a World Cup match at 37 years and 97 days.
Costa Rica shook off the opening loss to Spain and rebounded with aplomb, earning a 1-0 win versus Japan. It was the Ticos’ first victory in a World Cup match since a 1-0 triumph over Italy in their second match at Brazil 2014.
The win also improved Costa Rica’s record against opposition from the Asian Football Confederation to 2W-0D-0L after having previously defeated China 2-0 at South Korea/Japan 2002.
Keysher Fuller’s game-winning goal in the 81st minute continued a trend of Costa Rica scoring second half goals in World Cup play. In fact, with the win against Japan, 16 of the Ticos’ 20 World Cup goals have come in the second 45 minutes of play. Fuller also became the 14th different player to score for Costa Rica in a World Cup match.
Costa Rica then closed out their Group E campaign with a 4-2 defeat to Germany that will long be remembered for the Ticos’ fighting spirit. Staring at a 1-0 deficit going into the second half, Costa Rica came to life and got goals from Yeltsin Tejeda and Juan Pablo Vargas to take a 2-1 lead and vault themselves into second place in the group.
However, Germany responded with three unanswered goals to dash Costa Rica’s knockout stage hopes. Despite the loss, another mark was set, as MF Celso Borges and GK Keylor Navas became Costa Rica’s all-time leaders for appearances in a World Cup with 11 matches each.
Joel Campbell also etched his name into the record books, passing Christian Bolanos on the World Cup appearances list for Costa Rican players with 10, just one behind Borges and Navas. Campbell played in five matches at Brazil 2014, two at Russia 2018 and three at Qatar 2022.
