Costa Rica take aim at next round in pivotal Germany contest

MIAMI, Florida – Costa Rica will be seeking to continue their stay at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 when they face Germany in their Group E finale on Thursday night at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, Qatar.

The Ticos arrive into the encounter on a high note after their 1-0 triumph over Japan last Sunday and currently sit in Third Place in the group with three points.

The victory came in the wake of a disappointing 7-0 defeat to Spain in their opening match, but Keysher Fuller’s strike in the 81’ against the Japanese has given Costa Rica new life at Qatar 2022.

Some history was also made in the win versus Japan by GK Keylor Navas and MF Celso Borges, who became the all-time leaders in Senior Men’s World Cup appearances by a Costa Rican player with 10.

Four-time World Cup winners Germany are sitting in Fourth Place with one point, but know that a victory against the Ticos might be enough to propel them into the next phase of the tournament.

A win for Costa Rica would be enough to secure their passage to the Round of 16, while a draw would force the Ticos to await the final result of the Spain-Japan match to learn their knockout round fate.

Thursday’s affair marks the second time in history that Costa Rica and Germany have met in a Senior Men’s World Cup. These two sides had a memorable opening match to the 2006 tournament in Germany when Costa Rica put up a brave fight against the host nation in a 4-2 Germany victory in which Paulo Wanchope scored both Costa Rican goals.

Germany, who have failed to win either of their first two FIFA World Cup™ group fixtures for the first time, prop up Group E, but if they beat Costa Rica by two or more goals, they can only be eliminated if Japan defeat Spain. Costa Rica will go through if they beat Germany, or with a draw if Spain beat Japan.

The teams have met just once before, in the opening match of the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ in Munich, which the tournament hosts won 4-2.

Costa Rica won their first two FIFA World Cup matches against European sides, on their tournament debut in 1990, but have managed just two successes in 11 such encounters since, one of which was on penalties. Germany were unbeaten against Concacaf teams at the World Cup, winning six of their first seven matches and prevailing on penalties in the other, until they lost 1-0 to Mexico in 2018. Key facts

• Costa Rica have won only one of their last 11 FIFA World Cup matches against European teams (D5 L5).
• Germany have won six of their previous eight World Cup matches against Concacaf nations (D1 L1). Their only defeat came against Mexico in the group stage four years ago (L 1-0).
• Germany are without a win in their last three FIFA World Cup matches (D1 L2), which is their longest run without a victory in the competition since a three-match winless run across the 1982 and 1986 tournaments.
• Germany have only failed to qualify from a first-round group stage once in FIFA World Cup history from their previous 16 attempts – that was in Russia in 2018.