Costa Rica national football team

This article is about Costa Rica's men's national football team. For the women's team, see Costa Rica women's national football team.

Costa Rica

Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)	[La Sele (The Selection)] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [La Tricolor (The Tricolor)] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [Los Ticos] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)
Association	[[[Costa Rican Football Federation|Federación Costarricense de Fútbol]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (FEDEFUTBOL)
Confederation	CONCACAF (North America)
Sub-confederation	UNCAF (Central America)
Head coach	Oscar Ramírez
Captain	Bryan Ruiz
Most caps	Walter Centeno (137)
Top scorer	Rolando Fonseca (47)
Home stadium	Estadio Nacional
FIFA code	CRC
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	17 1 (24 November 2016)
Highest	13 (February–March 2015)
Lowest	93 (July 1996)
First international
Costa Rica 7–0 El Salvador (Guatemala City, Guatemala; 14 September 1921)
Biggest win
Costa Rica 12–0 Puerto Rico (Barranquilla, Colombia; 10 December 1946)
Biggest defeat
Mexico 7–0 Costa Rica (Mexico City, Mexico; 17 August 1975)
World Cup
Appearances	4 (first in 1990)
Best result	Quarter-finals, 2014
CONCACAF Championship & Gold Cup
Appearances	18 (first in 1963)
Best result	Champions, 1963, 1969 and 1989
Copa América
Appearances	4 (first in 1997)
Best result	Quarter-finals, 2001 and 2004

The Costa Rica national football team (Template:Lang-es) represents Costa Rica in international men's football. Costa Rica is administered by the Costa Rican Football Federation (FEDEFUTBOL), the governing body for football in Costa Rica. They have been a member of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) since 1927, a member of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) since 1961 and a member of the Unión Centroamericana de Fútbol (UNCAF) since 1990.

The national football team of Costa Rica are the current Central American champions after winning the 2014 edition of the tournament. Costa Rica is the most successful national football team in the history of Central America, with eight championships: 1991, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2013 and 2014. They are also one of the most successful teams in CONCACAF with three titles. Costa Rica is the only national team in Central America to have played in four FIFA World Cup editions. Costa Rica's national football team has the all-time highest average Football Elo Ranking in Central America with 1597.1, and the all-time highest Football Elo Ranking in Central America, with 1806 in 2014.

Since the late 1980s, the team has continuously been visible as a solidly competitive side, with a prominent performance in the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy, making it to the knockout stage in their debut after finishing second in their group during the first phase, below Brazil. They also managed to qualify for the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups. In 2014, Costa Rica made their best performance in history by finishing first in their group that consisted of three former World Cup champions: Uruguay, Italy, and England. During the Round of 16 they defeated Greece 5–3 via a penalty shootout after a 1–1 draw. Reaching the quarterfinals for their very first time the "Ticos" were defeated by the Netherlands also in a penalty shootout (3–4) after a scoreless draw on 5 July.

History

Costa Rica has a long-standing football culture and tradition.

The national team made its debut in the Independence Centenary Games held in Guatemala City in September 1921, winning their first game 7–0 against El Salvador. In the final, Costa Rica defeated 6–0 Guatemala to claim the trophy.

The football team of Costa Rica has been characterized above all by its regularity over the years. Well remembered is the selection of this country formed in the late 1940s acquiring the nickname of "The Gold Shorties". Throughout the '50s and '60s, they were very much the second strongest team in the CONCACAF zone behind Mexico, finishing runners-up in World Cup qualifying in the 1958, 1962 and 1966 qualifiers. Stars of the side during this period were Ruben Jimenez, Errol Daniels, Leonel Hernandez and Edgar Marin.

However, at the end of the '60s their fortunes would decline as other teams in the region such as Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Haiti, Trinidad & Tobago and Canada came to the fore. Although the majority of these participants have been short on points in their World Cup performances. During the 1970s and most of the 1980s, the Costa Rican team went unnoticed, and was absent from World Cups. Costa Rica failed to make the final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying rounds until the 1986 qualifier. Currently its historical topscorer is Rolando Fonseca with 47 goals.

1980s

Costa Rica participated in 2 straight Summer Olympic Games, in Moscow 1980 and in Los Angeles 1984. In 1980, Costa Rica competed against Yugoslavia, Finland and Iraq, in Group D, losing all 3 games 2–3, 0–3 and 0–3 respectively. Los Angeles saw Costa Rica's first win in a worldwide international participation. Again in Group D, the Ticos played against The United States, Egypt and Italy. The game against The US ended in a loss, 0–3. The second game did not see much improvement, 1–4 against Egypt. But in the last game, against an Italian squad that included Walter Zenga, Pietro Vierchowood, Franco Baresi and Aldo Serena, Costa Rica prevailed 1–0, with an Enrique Rivers goal.

Qualifying to Italy 1990

Gabelo Conejo

Flores (C)

Montero

Chavarria

Chaves

Marchena

González

Cayasso

Gómez

Ramirez

Jara

Team that played against Scotland in the World Cup Italy 1990

Main article: 1990 FIFA World Cup

After a great campaign in the CONCACAF Championship in 1989, Costa Rica got their first ticket to the finals of a World Cup where they made a huge showing after beating Scotland and Sweden in the first round. It all started with a tie against Panama. To advance to the qualifying group stage. Costa Rica suffered against the Panamanians in the first game at Alejandro Morera Soto Stadium in Alajuela, and ended up taking a local one to one tie. In the second game at the stadium Revolution (now Rommel Fernández), with goals from Juan Arnoldo Cayasso and Hernán Medford gave the away victory to Costa Rica 0–2 victory to advanced to the group stage. Costa Rica started the group stage with a defeat in Guatemala by 1 to 0. Then beat the same Guatemala 2–1 at home, goals from Róger Flores and Evaristo Coronado. Then Costa Rica beat the U.S. in San Jose by 1–0 with a goal from Gilberto Rodden. Then they lost to the U.S. 1–0 in St. Louis – Missouri. Following this they tied in Trinidad and Tobago 1 to 1, the scorer was Evaristo Coronado. Beat Trinidad and Tobago in San Jose with a goal by Juan Arnoldo Cayasso. A substantial away win was next for the Ticos in El Salvador at the Cuscatlán by 2–4, with goals from Carlos Mario Hidalgo, Juan Arnoldo Cayasso and a double from Leonidas Flores. Finally in the last game a victory over El Salvador in San Jose by 1 goal to 0 signified a trip to the 1990 Fifa World Cup. Pastor Fernandez scored the lone goal. Costa Rica finished first with 11 points in the pentagonal and the United States in second also with 11 points in 8 games respectably both qualifying, but Costa Rica first on goal difference. Mexico was disqualified from this qualifier because of youth player age tampering.

In the World Cup finals, Costa Rica was second in their group behind Brazil, but lost in the round of 16 to Czechoslovakia.

Main article: 1989 CONCACAF Championship

Qualifying	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Costa Rica	8	5	1	2	10	6	+4	11
United States	8	4	3	1	6	3	+3	11
Trinidad and Tobago	8	3	3	2	7	5	+2	9
Guatemala	6	1	1	4	4	7	−3	3
El Salvador	6	0	2	4	2	8	−6	2

1990s and early 2000s

After its brilliant performance in the Italian summer, the national team failed to qualify for World Cup USA 1994 and France 1998 due to lack of planning and poor results. It was an important and historical moment when, in 1997 Costa Rica was invited for the first time to the Copa América held in Bolivia, Costa Rica also played memorable friendlies including a 5–4 defeat against Uruguay in Estadio Centenario.

Main article: 1997 Copa América

Qualifying	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Brazil	3	3	0	0	10	2	+8	9
Mexico	3	1	1	1	5	5	-	4
Colombia	3	1	0	2	5	5	-	3
Costa Rica	3	0	1	2	2	10	-8	1

2001 Copa América

Main article: 2001 Copa América

Korea / Japan 2002 World Cup Qualifiers and Tournament

Main article: 2002 FIFA World Cup

Lonnis (C)

Parks

Marín

Martínez

Wallace

Castro

Centeno

Solís

López

Wanchope

Gómez

After the failures in qualifying for the World Cup 1994 and World Cup 1998, the Ticos won the qualification for the World Cup in 2002 held in South Korea and Japan. This included victories against favorites Mexico and the United States. During the World Cup the results were mixed, losing to Brazil (tournament champion) 5–2 (only team to score 2 goals against Brazil at this World Cup), tying with Turkey (third in the championship) 1–1 and beating China 2–0. Costa Rica finished in third place in their group, behind Turkey on goal difference. The match against Brazil is remembered as one of the most exciting matches of the tournament.

During the qualifiers, though, Costa Rica started with many ups and downs, first in command of Brazilian coach Gilson Nunes Sequeira and then with another fellow Brazilian naturalized to Costa Rican Alexandre Guimarães. The first group stage began with an unexpected defeat to Barbados 1–2. After this humiliating loss, Costa Rica proceeded to beat the United States at the Ricardo Saprissa Stadium 2–1, with goals from Rolando Fonseca and Hernán Medford. Then they beat Guatemala in the Morera Soto Alajuela by 2–1, with two goals from Paulo Wanchope and defeated Barbados at the Ricardo Saprissa 3–0, with goals from Jafet Soto, Rolando Fonseca and Hernan Medford. After this good run, Costa Rica's level decreased and took a scoreless match against the United States, then lost to Guatemala in Mazatenango 2–1. This result forced a playoff against Guatemala in Miami, Florida. The match was won 5–2 by Costa Rica with two goals from Rolando Fonseca, one from Paulo Wanchope, one from Reynaldo Parks and Jafeth Soto.

Costa Rica displayed a fine offensive form with a rather solid front line, thanks to their new coach, Alexandre Guimaraes. This display of football evidenced itself during the final hexagonal round, although it began with a draw against Honduras at the Ricardo Saprissa 2–2, with goals from Rolando Fonseca and Rodrigo Cordero. Then Costa Rica defeated Trinidad and Tobago 3–0 at the Morera Soto. Their only loss in this final round came thanks to the U.S., who defeated Costa Rica 1–0. Afterwards, Costa Rica bounced back with a huge win against Mexico in Mexico city 1–2, which is usually referred as the "Aztecazo", with goals from Rolando Fonseca and Hernan Medford. Morale was high after this game, and Costa Rica beat Jamaica 2–1 in Alajuela. Again, Costa Rica came away with an away win over Honduras in Tegucigalpa 2–3, goals scored by Paulo Wanchope, Rolando Fonseca and Mauricio Solis. A crucial away win in Port of Spain against Trinidad and Tobago 2–0, with two goals from Rónald Gómez, meant Costa Rica was just 3 points away from qualification to the World Cup. Costa Rica sealed their qualification to Korea/Japan in an emotional match against the U.S. by beating them 2–0 in the Saprissa, with a double from Rolando Fonseca. The final 2 games were uneventful, as Costa Rica managed a goalless tie with Mexico at the Ricardo Saprissa and defeated already-eliminated Jamaica 0–1, using subs and reserves. Costa Rica finished first in that hexagonal round with 23 points in 10 games.

Costa Rica were put in Pot D for the World Cup and were put into Group C with Brazil, China PR, and Turkey. Their campaign started in Gwangju, where the Ticos took down China 0–2. In their second game versus Turkey in Incheon, Costa Rica was losing late in the 2nd half 0–1, only to be saved by a late 86th-minute goal by Winston Parks to end it in a 1–1 draw. In the final group game versus Brazil, Costa Rica fought a 0–3 deficit to go 2–3 early in the 2nd half, only to be shut down by 2 goals in 3 minutes to lose 2–5. As a result, thanks to this loss against Brazil and Turkey's 3–0 victory over China, caused both Costa Rica and Turkey tied with 4 points, but Turkey advanced on the Goal Difference with a +2 goal difference over Costa Rica's −1 goal difference, eliminating the Ticos from the World Cup.

Main article: 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification - CONCACAF final round

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Costa Rica	10	7	2	1	17	7	10	23
Mexico	10	5	2	3	16	9	7	17
United States	10	5	2	3	11	8	3	17
Honduras	10	4	2	4	17	17	0	14
Jamaica	10	2	2	6	7	14	−7	8
Trinidad and Tobago	10	1	2	7	5	18	−13	5

Main article: 2002 FIFA World Cup Group C

Germany 2006 World Cup Qualifiers

Main article: 2006 FIFA World Cup

In 2006, Costa Rica had an uneven season but managed to make the qualification to the World Cup. On 9 June 2006, Costa Rica made its debut in the opening match in Munich against the host German squad, losing the match 4–2.

However, the good performance in that game did not translate over to the other games, where they fell 0–3 against Ecuador, and 1–2 against Poland. This time they also started the journey with ups and downs. First in command U.S. coach Steve Sampson, who was separated after qualifying with doubts over Cuba in the preliminary phase, Both these games results were ties. First in Havana 2–2, with goals Douglas Sequeira and Álvaro Saborío, and then in the second game at the Morera Soto in Alajuela 1–1. Costa Rica advanced to the away goals.

The Colombian Jorge Luis Pinto took over in the group stage. He began with an unheard of 2–5 defeat against Honduras in Costa Rica. Then they visited Guatemala and lost 1–2. Bounced back against Canada at the Saprissa 1–0, with a goal from Paulo Wanchope. Then a resounding triumph over Guatemala in Tibas 5 to 0, a hat-trick from Paulo Wanchope, single goals from Carlos Hernández and Rolando Fonseca resounding. Vancouver,Canada meant a decent 1–3 win, with goals from Paulo Wanchope, William Sunsing and Carlos Hernández. They pulled a goalless draw against Honduras in San Pedro Sula. Costa Rica advanced to the hexagonal winning their group. In the final round they started with a defeat at the Saprissa against Mexico by 1–2. Paulo Wanchope's goal was not enough. They beat Panama in the Saprissa by 2–1, with goals from Wayne Wilson and Roy Myrie.

In Port of Spain tied Trinidad and Tobago in a disappointing scoreless draw. This result marked Pinto's dismissal and the arrival of Alexandre Guimarães. He and the team lost the visit to the United States by 3–0. Guatemala was beaten at the Saprissa 3–2, with goals from Carlos Hernández, Ronald Gomez and Paulo Wanchope. Then lost in Mexico by 2–0. The ticos sank Panama in an away match at the Rommel Fernández 1–3, with goals from Álvaro Saborío, Ronald Gomez and Walter Centeno. Then beat Trinidad and Tobago at the Saprissa by 2–0 with goals from Walter Centeno and Álvaro Saborío.

Decisively beating the United States in the Saprissa by 3–0 equaled clinching the selections third World Cup birth. The first Goal was scored by Paulo Wanchope plus a Double from Carlos Hernández. With the ticket to Germany assured then traveled to Guatemala for a 3–1 loss. Roy Myrie scored their only goal. Costa Rica finished third behind the United States and Mexico in the standings.

South Africa 2010 World Cup Qualifiers

Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)

A very strange start for the Ticos. They faced Grenada in the second phase, drew the first leg 2–2, and then won the return by 3–0. In the third phase, forming the Group 3, won all six games played against the teams of El Salvador (1–0 and 3–1), Haiti (3–1 and 2–0) and Suriname (7–0 and 4 -1) in both outward and return. Skipping ahead towards the end of the final phase with Costa Rica achieving 12 points and Honduras 13 points. This meant a dramatic fight for the final spot to qualify for the South African World Cup. Costa Rica had to win their last two games and hope that the selection of Honduras lost. In the first instance they did well. Honduras lost at home 2–3 to the United States. Costa Rica on the other had won 4–0 against Trinidad and Tobago and overtook Honduras in the standings. Honduras closed their matches in El Salvador. However, Costa Rica still needed to give a good showing at the final match in the United States. This was achieved in-part. All went well for the Ticos winning 2–0 at halftime in Washington, D.C.. In the second half the United States scored at the 71st and 95th minutes and the Ticos only finished with a tie. Honduras's, 1–0 victory over El Salvador was devastating. Both Costa Rica and Honduras finished the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification CONCACAF Fourth Round with 16 points. Honduras slipped into the 2010 FIFA World Cup on goal difference. The Costa Ricans finished fourth in the Concacaf final qualifying round and were sent to a playoff with the fifth seated CONMEBOL team. In the playoff, Costa Rica faced Uruguay. In the first leg in San Jose. The Ticos lost 0–1, the Costa Rians finished the match with ten men on the pitch because Randall Azofeifa was sent off at the 52' with his second yellow card. Goal scored by defender Diego Lugano sky. The second leg, played at the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo. The goals were scored by Sebastián Abreu at the 70' and Walter Centeno 74' and finished in a 1–1 tie. Costa Rica was not able to take advantage of a slight extension of the game or "extra time". Uruguay won 2–1 on aggregate.

CONCACAF 4th place v CONMEBOL 5th place

The fourth-place team in the CONCACAF qualifying fourth round (Costa Rica) played off against the fifth-place team in the CONMEBOL qualifying group (Uruguay). Uruguay won the play-off and qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup on 18 November 2009.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Costa Rica	1–2	Uruguay	0–1	1–1

2010 to present

After failing to qualify for 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the team the need to initiate a new era, based on the combined generational shift with young but experienced talent such as Bryan Ruiz, Keylor Navas, Cristian Bolaños, Randall Azofeifa, Michael Barrantes and of course the very young and upcoming star Joel Campbell. Rónald González was interim contract before hiring in September 2010 of Ricardo La Volpe, whose job lasted only 10 months to be replaced by the Colombian coach Jorge Luis Pinto, in his second chance in front of the national team, with the goal of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup. This era has been characterized by friendlies against the top ranked teams in the world, including world champion Spain, most of them through the construction of the new national stadium.

Brazil 2014 World Cup Qualifying and Tournament

Navas

Umaña

González

Gamboa

Oviedo

Borges

Tejeda

Campbell

Bolaños

Ruiz (C)

Saborío

Team that qualified for the 2014 FIFA World Cup

The Ticos' campaign to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup began in June with a 2–2 draw against El Salvador. The Ticos followed this up with a 4–0 win over Guyana with a hat trick by Álvaro Saborío. In September, Costa Rica hit a bump in the road with 2–0 and 1–0 defeats to rivals Mexico, putting the Ticos one defeat away of being eliminated. On 12 October, Costa Rica resurrected their campaign with a 1–0 win against El Salvador with the only goal scored by Jose Miguel Cubero. On 16 October, they finally clinched a final round berth with a 7–0 win over Guyana with goals scored by Randall Brenes, Álvaro Saborío, Cristian Bolaños, Celso Borges and Cristian Gamboa.

The fourth round began with a 2–2 draw against Panama. In March, Costa Rica lost 1–0 against the United States in Denver, Colorado. The Costa Rican Football Federation appealed the match due to inclement weather in Denver, but FIFA rejected the appeal as being without basis. Despite feeling aggrieved by the meteorological conditions, Costa Rica would again fall to the US 1–0 in the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup that June. On 26 March, Costa Rica won at home 2–0 against Jamaica. In June, Costa Rica won 1–0 against Honduras, tied 0–0 at the Estadio Azteca against Mexico and won at home 2–0 against Panama. In September, Costa Rica won 3–1 against the United States in Estadio Nacional in San José.

On 10 September Costa Rica tied with Jamaica. Goals were scored by Randall Brenes at the 73rd minute and by Jermain Anderson at the 90th minute. Despite losing its lead, Costa Rica qualified to the 2014 FIFA World Cup, with two games to spare. After a 1–0 loss at Honduras and 2–1 win over Mexico in October, Costa Rica finished second in the final CONCACAF qualifying round table behind the United States, with five home wins, three draws and two losses.

In December 2013, Costa Rica was drawn in Group D against Italy, England, and Uruguay. Costa Rica were widely perceived as minnows who had no hope in a group against three former World Cup champion nations. They were given extremely unlikely odds of 2500 to 1 to win the tournament. Amazingly, they ended up topping the group with two wins against Uruguay and Italy and a 0–0 draw with England. In the round of 16 they beat Greece 5–3 on penalties after a 1–1 draw, seeing them through to the quarterfinals for the first time ever. At the quarterfinals, the Costa Ricans fought the Netherlands to a 0–0 draw after extra time; the game then went to penalties in which Costa Rica lost 4–3 to the Netherlands. After the tournament, Costa Rica rose 12 places in the FIFA World Rankings, reaching 16th place. In an interview by former Federation member Farabundo Fidel Calderón cited their long journey, started in 2007, as the reason of their achievement.

Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – CONCACAF Fourth Round

Competitive record

^* Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup record										FIFA World Cup qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1930	Did Not Enter									Did Not Enter
1934
1938
1950
1954
1958	Did Not Qualify									6	4	1	1	16	7
1962										9	5	1	3	22	14
1966										8	7	1	0	21	3
1970										4	2	1	1	7	3
1974										2	0	1	1	4	5
1978										6	1	4	1	8	6
1982										8	1	4	3	6	10
1986										8	2	5	1	10	8
1990	Round of 16	13th / 24 teams	4	2	0	2	4	6		10	6	2	2	13	7
1994	Did Not Qualify									8	4	0	4	16	11
1998										16	7	3	6	22	17
2002	Group Stage	19th / 32 teams	3	1	1	1	5	6		17	11	3	3	31	10
2006		31st / 32 teams	3	0	0	3	3	9		18	8	4	6	30	25
2010	Did Not Qualify *									20	12	3	5	41	22
2014	Quarter-Finals	8th / 32 teams	5	2	3	0	5	2		16	8	4	4	27	12
Total	Quarterfinals	4/20	15	5	4	6	17	23		153	77	37	41	274	160

* Uruguay beat Costa Rica 2–1 in the 2010 CONCACAF vs CONMEBOL play-off.

CONCACAF Championship / CONCACAF Gold Cup

CONCACAF Championship / CONCACAF Gold Cup record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1963	Champions	1st	6	5	1	0	14	2
1965	Third Place	3rd	5	2	2	1	11	4
1967	Did Not Enter
1969	Champions	1st	5	4	1	0	13	2
1971	Third Place	3rd	5	2	1	2	6	5
1973	Did Not Qualify
1977
1981
1985	Third Place	3rd	8	2	5	1	10	8
1989	Champions	1st	8	5	1	2	10	6
1991	Fourth Place	4th	5	1	0	4	5	9
1993	Third Place	3rd	5	1	3	1	6	5
1996	Did Not Qualify
1998	Group Stage	5th	2	1	0	1	8	4
2000	Quarter-Finals	6th	3	0	2	1	5	6
2002	Runners-up	2nd	5	3	1	1	8	5
2003	Fourth Place	4th	5	2	0	3	9	7
2005	Quarter-Finals	6th	4	2	1	1	6	4
2007		7th	4	1	1	2	3	4
2009	Semi Final	3rd	5	2	2	1	10	6
2011	Quarter-Finals	5th	4	1	2	1	8	6
2013		5th	4	2	0	2	4	2
2015		7th	4	0	3	1	3	4
Total	3 Titles	18/23	87	36	26	25	139	91

Copa Centroamericana

Copa Centroamericana record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1991	Champions	1st / 4 teams	3	3	0	0	10	1
1993	Runners-Up	2nd / 4 teams	3	2	0	1	3	2
1995	Fourth Place	4th / 6 teams	4	1	1	2	5	6
1997	Champions	1st / 6 teams	5	3	2	0	12	3
1999	Champions	1st / 6 teams	5	3	0	2	13	3
2001	Runners-Up	2nd / 7 teams	5	2	2	1	8	5
2003	Champions	1st / 6 teams	5	4	1	0	5	1
2005	Champions	1st / 7 teams	4	3	1	0	8	2
2007	Champions	1st / 7 teams	4	2	1	1	5	2
2009	Runners-Up	2nd / 7 teams	4	3	1	0	9	1
2011	Runners-Up	2nd / 7 teams	4	1	2	1	6	5
2013	Champions	1st / 7 teams	5	4	1	0	6	1
2014	Champions	1st / 7 teams	3	2	1	0	7	3
Total	8 Titles	12/12	54	33	13	8	99	35

Copa América

Copa América record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1993*	Not Invited
1995
1997	Group Stage	10th / 12 teams	3	0	1	2	2	10
1999	Not Invited
2001	Quarter Finals	5th / 12 teams	4	2	1	1	7	3
2004		7th / 12 teams	4	1	0	3	3	8
2007	Not Invited
2011	Group Stage	9th / 12 teams	3	1	0	2	2	4
2015	Not Invited
2016	Group Stage	10th / 16 teams	3	1	1	1	3	6
Total	Quarterfinals	5/10	17	5	3	9	17	31

* Ecuador 1993 was the first time nations from outside CONMEBOL were invited.

CCCF Championship

CCCF Championship record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1941	Champions	1st / 5 teams	4	4	0	0	23	5
1943	Third Place	3rd / 4 teams	6	3	0	3	20	15
1946	Champions	1st / 6 teams	5	4	0	1	24	6
1948	Champions	1st / 5 teams	8	5	1	2	25	11
1951	Runners-up	2nd / 3 teams	4	2	1	1	13	5
1953	Champions	1st / 7 teams	6	6	0	0	19	2
1955	Champions	1st / 7 teams	6	6	0	0	19	4
1957	Withdrew
1960	Champions	1st / 5 teams	5	3	2	0	14	4
1961	Champions	1st / 9 teams	7	7	0	0	32	4
Total	7 Titles	9/10	51	40	4	7	191	56

Olympics record

Olympics record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1900	Did Not Enter
1904
1908
1912
1920
1924
1928
1936
1948
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968	Did Not Qualify
1972
1976
1980	First Round	16	3	0	0	3	2	9
1984	First Round	13	3	1	0	2	2	7
1988	Did Not Qualify
1992
1996
2000
2004	Quarter-finals	8	4	1	1	2	4	8
2008	Did Not Qualify
2012
2016
2020
Total	Quarter-finals	3/25	10	2	1	7	8	24

Pan American Games record

• 1951 – Third Place
• 1955 – Did not participate
• 1959 – Fifth place
• 1963 to 1971 – Did not participate
• 1975 – Fourth place
• 1979 – Round 2
• 1983 to 1991 – Did not participate
• 1995 – Quarterfinals
• 1999 – Round 1
• 2003 – Did not participate
• 2007 – Round 1
• 2011 – Semifinals

Panamerican Championship record

• 1952 – Did not participate
• 1956 – Third Place
• 1960 – Fourth place

Honours

Costa Rica national football team players celebrating their classification at the FIFA World Cup 2014 for the round of 16 in first place of Group D at Mineirão stadium in Belo Horizonte after their draw with England.

• FIFA World Cup
  • Best Performance: Quarter-finals, 2014
• CONCACAF Championship / CONCACAF Gold Cup
  • Winners (3): 1963, 1969, 1989
  • Runners-up (1): 2002

Minor titles

• UNCAF Nations Cup/Copa Centroamericana
  • Winners (8): 1991, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2013, 2014
• CCCF Championship
  • Winners (7): 1941, 1946, 1948, 1953, 1955, 1960, 1961,

Recent results and upcoming fixtures

Main article: Costa Rica national football team results

  Win   Draw   Loss

2016

Venezuela v Costa Rica

2 February Friendly	Venezuela	1–0	Costa Rica	Barinas, Venezuela
19:30 (UTC-4:30)	Ángel 89'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Agustín Tovar Attendance: 16,000 Referee: Luis Sánchez (Colombia)

Jamaica v Costa Rica

25 March 2018 FIFA WCQ	Jamaica	1–1	Costa Rica	Kingston, Jamaica
19:00 UTC−5	Watson 16'	Report (FIFA) Report (CONCACAF)	Acosta 67'	Stadium: Independence Park Attendance: 21,500 Referee: Jair Marrufo (United States)

Costa Rica v Jamaica

29 March 2018 FIFA WCQ	Costa Rica	3–0	Jamaica	San José, Costa Rica
20:00 UTC−6	Borges 7' Ruiz 37' Venegas 76'	Report (FIFA) Report (CONCACAF)		Stadium: Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica Attendance: 35,062 Referee: Drew Fischer (Canada)

Costa Rica v Venezuela

27 May Friendly	Costa Rica	2–1	Venezuela	San José, Costa Rica
	Gamboa 40' Rodríguez 49' Matarrita  71'	Report	Rondón 29' Figuera  89'	Stadium: Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica Attendance: 22,000 Referee: Melvin Matamorros (Honduras)

Costa Rica v Paraguay

4 June Copa América Centenario	Costa Rica	0–0	Paraguay	Orlando, United States
17:00 (UTC-4)		Report (CONMEBOL) Report (CONCACAF)		Stadium: Orlando Citrus Bowl Attendance: 14,334 Referee: Patricio Loustau (Argentina)

United States v Costa Rica

7 June Copa América Centenario	United States	4–0	Costa Rica	Chicago, United States
20:00 (UTC-5)	Dempsey 9' (pen.) Jones 37' Wood 42' Zusi 87'	Report (CONMEBOL) Report (CONCACAF)		Stadium: Soldier Field Attendance: 39,642 Referee: Roddy Zambrano (Ecuador)

Colombia v Costa Rica

11 June Copa América Centenario	Colombia	2–3	Costa Rica	Houston, United States
21:00 (UTC-4)	Fabra 6' M. Moreno 73'	Report (CONMEBOL) Report (CONCACAF)	Venegas 2' Fabra 34' (o.g.) Borges 58'	Stadium: NRG Stadium Attendance: 45,808 Referee: José Argote (Venezuela)

Haiti v Costa Rica

2 September 2018 FIFA WCQ	Haiti	0–1	Costa Rica	Port-au-Prince, Haiti
19:00 (UTC-5)		Report (FIFA) Report (CONCACAF)	Azofeifa 71'	Stadium: Stade Sylvio Cator Referee: Marlon Mejía (El Salvador)

Costa Rica v Panama

Russia v Costa Rica

9 October Friendly	Russia	3–4	Costa Rica	Krasnodar, Russia
19:30 (UTC-4:30)	Samedov 31' Dzyuba 48,61'		Azofeifa 22' Ruiz 29' Smolov 45+' Campbell 90+'	Stadium: Krasnodar Stadium

Trinidad and Tobago v Costa Rica

Costa Rica v United States

15 November 2018 FIFA WCQ	Costa Rica	4–0	United States	San José, Costa Rica
20:00 UTC−6	Venegas 43' Bolaños 69' Campbell 74', 77'			Stadium: Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica Referee: César Arturo Ramos (Mexico)

Current squad

The list of players called up for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Trinidad and Tobago on 11 November and United States on November 15, 2016.
Caps, squad numbers and goals updated as of 15 November 2016 after the game against United States.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Keylor Navas (Captain)	(1986-12-15) 15 December 1986	68	0	Real Madrid
18	1GK	Patrick Pemberton	(1982-05-24) 24 May 1982	32	0	Alajuelense
23	1GK	Leonel Moreira	(1990-04-02) 2 April 1990	6	0	Herediano
2	2DF	Johnny Acosta	(1983-07-21) 21 July 1983	50	2	Herediano
3	2DF	José Salvatierra	(1989-10-10) 10 October 1989	30	0	Alajuelense
4	2DF	Michael Umaña	(1982-07-16) 16 July 1982	93	1	Alajuelense
6	2DF	Pablo Salazar	(1982-11-21) 21 November 1982	6	0	Herediano
8	2DF	Bryan Oviedo	(1990-02-18) 18 February 1990	31	1	Everton
15	2DF	Allan Miranda	(1987-05-28) 28 May 1987	2	0	Herediano
16	2DF	Leonardo González	(1980-11-21) 21 November 1980	61	1	Herediano
19	2DF	Kendall Waston	(1988-01-01) 1 January 1988	14	1	Vancouver Whitecaps
22	2DF	Rónald Matarrita	(1994-07-09) 9 July 1994	17	2	New York City
5	3MF	Celso Borges	(1988-05-27) 27 May 1988	98	21	Deportivo La Coruña
7	3MF	Christian Bolaños	(1984-05-30) 30 May 1984	71	6	Vancouver Whitecaps
11	3MF	Johan Venegas	(1988-11-27) 27 November 1988	30	7	Montreal Impact
13	3MF	Rodney Wallace	(1988-06-17) 17 June 1988	16	3	Sport Recife
14	3MF	Randall Azofeifa	(1984-12-30) 30 December 1984	47	3	Herediano
17	3MF	Yeltsin Tejeda	(1992-03-17) 17 March 1992	39	0	Lausanne-Sport
20	3MF	David Guzmán	(1990-02-18) 18 February 1990	22	0	Saprissa
9	4FW	Ariel Rodríguez	(1989-09-27) 27 September 1989	10	1	Bangkok Glass
10	4FW	Bryan Ruiz	(1985-08-18) 18 August 1985	95	22	Sporting CP
12	4FW	Joel Campbell	(1992-06-26) 26 June 1992	68	14	Sporting CP
21	4FW	Marco Ureña	(1990-03-05) 5 March 1990	45	10	Brøndby

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up within the last twelve months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Esteban Alvarado	(1989-04-28) 28 April 1989	12	0	Trabzonspor	v. Trinidad and Tobago, 11 November 2016 PRE
GK	Danny Carvajal	(1989-01-08) 8 January 1989	0	0	Saprissa	Copa América Centenario
GK	Marco Madrigal	(1985-08-03) 3 August 1985	2	0	Santos de Guápiles	v. Venezuela, 2 February 2016
DF	Cristian Gamboa	(1989-10-24) 24 October 1989	52	3	Celtic	v. Trinidad and Tobago, 11 November 2016
DF	Francisco Calvo	(1992-07-08) 8 July 1992	17	0	Saprissa	v. Trinidad and Tobago, 11 November 2016
DF	Giancarlo González	(1988-02-08) 8 February 1988	54	2	Palermo	v. Russia, 9 October 2016
DF	Óscar Duarte	(1989-06-03) 3 June 1989	33	2	Espanyol	v. Panama, 6 September 2016
DF	Júnior Díaz	(1983-09-12) 12 September 1983	81	1	Würzburger Kickers	Copa América Centenario PRE
DF	Roy Miller	(1984-11-24) 24 November 1984	59	2	Saprissa	Copa América Centenario PRE
DF	David Myrie	(1988-06-01) 1 June 1988	24	0	San Carlos	Copa América Centenario PRE
DF	Bismark Acosta	(1986-12-19) 19 December 1986	8	0	Brann	Copa América Centenario PRE
DF	Waylon Francis	(1990-09-20) 20 September 1990	4	0	Columbus Crew	Copa América Centenario PRE
DF	José Mena	(1989-02-02) 2 February 1989	7	0	Universidad de Costa Rica	v. Venezuela, 2 February 2016
DF	Jordan Smith	(1991-04-23) 23 April 1991	3	0	Vancouver Whitecaps	v. Venezuela, 2 February 2016
MF	Néstor Monge	(1990-01-07) 7 January 1990	0	0	Saprissa	v. Panama, 6 September 2016
MF	Óscar Granados	(1985-10-25) 25 October 1985	14	0	Herediano	Copa América Centenario
MF	José Miguel Cubero	(1987-02-14) 14 February 1987	48	2	Herediano	Copa América Centenario PRE
MF	Diego Madrigal	(1989-03-19) 19 March 1989	11	1	Suphanburi	Copa América Centenario PRE
MF	Diego Calvo	(1991-03-25) 25 March 1991	10	1	Pérez Zeledón	Copa América Centenario PRE
MF	Marvin Angulo	(1986-09-30) 30 September 1986	2	0	Saprissa	Copa América Centenario PRE
FW	Yendrick Ruiz	(1987-01-06) 6 January 1987	6	0	Herediano	v. Russia, 9 October 2016
FW	Daniel Colindres	(1985-05-28) 28 May 1985	5	0	Saprissa	v. Panama, 6 September 2016
FW	Álvaro Saborío	(1982-03-22) 22 March 1982	108	35	D.C. United	Copa América Centenario
FW	Johnny Woodly	(1980-07-27) 27 July 1980	0	0	Alajuelense	Copa América Centenario
FW	Deyver Vega	(1992-09-19) 19 September 1992	9	0	Brann	Copa América Centenario PRE
FW	David Ramírez	(1993-05-28) 28 May 1993	5	2	Moreirense	Copa América Centenario PRE
FW	Josué Martínez	(1990-03-25) 25 March 1990	16	2	Herediano	v. Venezuela, 2 February 2016
FW	Mayron George	(1993-10-23) 23 October 1993	3	0	Randers	v. Nicaragua, 15 December 2015

^PRE Preliminary squad.
^WD Withdrew for personal reasons.

Previous squads

FIFA World Cup

• 1990 FIFA World Cup squad
• 2002 FIFA World Cup squad
• 2006 FIFA World Cup squad
• 2014 FIFA World Cup squad

Gold Cup

• 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup squad
• 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup squad
• 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup squad
• 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup squad
• 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup squad
• 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup squad
• 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup squad
• 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup squad
• 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup squad
• 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup squad

Copa América

• 1997 Copa América squad
• 2001 Copa América squad
• 2004 Copa América squad
• 2011 Copa América squad
• Copa América Centenario squads

Records

As of November 16, 2016.

Bold indicates active players.

Most Caps

#	Player	Caps	Goals	Career
1	Walter Centeno	137	24	1995–2009
2	Luis Marín	128	5	1993–2009
3	Rolando Fonseca	113	47	1992–2011
4	Mauricio Solís	110	6	1993–2006
5	Álvaro Saborío	108	35	2002–
6	Harold Wallace	101	3	1995–2009
7	Celso Borges	98	21	2008–
8	Bryan Ruiz	95	22	2005–
9	Michael Umaña	93	1	2004–
	Ronald Gomez	91	24	1993–2008

Top Goalscorers

#	Player	Goals	Caps	Career
1	Rolando Fonseca	47	113	1992–2011
2	Paulo Wanchope	45	73	1996–2008
3	Álvaro Saborío	35	108	2002–
4	Juan Ulloa	27	27	1955–1970
5	Ronald Gómez	24	91	1993–2008
	Walter Centeno	24	137	1995–2009
7	Jorge Hernán Monge	23	27	1955–1961
8	Bryan Ruiz	22	95	2005–
9	Celso Borges	21	98	2008–
10	Hernán Medford	18	89	1987–2002

Managers

Name Years Eladio Rosabal Cordero 1921 Manolo Rodríguez 1930 Ricardo Saprissa 1935, 1938 Alejandro Morera Soto 1941 Jorge Lalo Rojas 1943 Alejandro Morera Soto 1943 Hernán Bolaños 1946 Randolph Galloway Hernán Bolaños 1946 Hernán Bolaños 1948 Santiago Bonilla 1950 Ismael Melo Quesada 1951 Ricardo Saprissa Luis Cartín Paniagua 1951 Otto Bumbel 1953 Alfredo Chato Piedra 1955, 1957 Rubén Amorín 1960 Hugo Tassara Olivares 1960 Eduardo Toba Muíño 1961 Alfredo Chato Piedra 1961, 1963 Eduardo Viso Abella Alfredo Chato Piedra Mario "Catato" Cordero 1965 Rodolfo Ulloa Antillón 1967–1968 Américo Brunner 1968

Name Years Rogelio Rojas 1969 Marvin Rodríguez 1969 Eduardo Viso Abella 1970 Marvin Rodríguez 1971 Humberto Maschio 1972 José Etchegoyen 1975 Marvin Rodríguez 1975 Juan José Gámez 1976 Antonio Moyano Reina 1979–80 Ivan Mráz 1980 Antonio Moyano Reina 1983–84 Odir Jacques 1985 Álvaro Grant MacDonald 1985 Gustavo De Simone 1987–89 Antonio Moyano Reina Marvin Rodríguez 1989 Marvin Rodríguez 1989–90 Bora Milutinović 1990 Rolando Villalobos 1991 Héctor Núñez 1992 Juan José Gámez 1993 Álvaro Grant MacDonald 1993 Juan Luis Hernández Fuertes 1993–94 Antonio Moyano Reina 1994

Name Years Toribio Rojas 1994–95 Juan Blanco 1995 Valdeir Vieira 1996 Horacio Cordero 1997 Juan Luis Hernández Fuertes 1997 Rolando Villalobos 1998 Francisco Maturana 1998–99 Marvin Rodríguez 1999–00 Gílson Nunes 2000 Alexandre Guimarães 2001–02 Rodrigo Kenton 2002* Steve Sampson 2003–04 Jorge Luis Pinto 2004–05 Alexandre Guimarães 2005–06 Carlos Watson 2006* Hernán Medford 2007–08 Rodrigo Kenton 2008–09 Renê Simões 2009 Rónald González Brenes 2010* Ricardo La Volpe 2010–2011 Jorge Luis Pinto 2011–2014 Paulo Wanchope 2014–2015 Oscar Ramirez 2015–

Coaching staff

Position	Name
Manager	Oscar Ramírez
Assistant Coach 1	Alejandro Larrea
Assistant Coach 2	Luis Marín
Goalkeeper's Coach	Luis Gabelo Conejo

Record versus other nations

As of 2011-03-25

Nation	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Argentina	6	0	2	4	5	12	-7	2
Australia	1	0	0	1	0	1	-1	0
Austria	2	0	1	1	2	4	-2	1
Barbados	2	1	0	1	4	2	+2	3
Belgium	1	0	0	1	0	1	-1	0
Belize	4	4	0	0	13	2	+11	8
Bolivia	2	2	0	0	6	0	+6	6
Brazil	5	1	1	3	6	16	-10	3
Cameroon	1	1	0	0	5	0	+5	3
Canada	18	7	7	4	19	14	+5	28
Chile	9	5	2	2	10	8	+2	17
China	5	2	2	1	8	6	+2	8
Colombia	10	2	0	8	11	24	-13	6
Cuba	13	11	2	0	44	8	+36	35
Curaçao	20	13	3	4	44	20	+24	42
Dominican Republic	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	3
Ecuador	11	1	5	5	9	18	-9	8
El Salvador	53	28	14	11	87	53	+34	70
England	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
Finland	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	3
France	2	0	0	2	3	5	-2	0
Germany	1	0	0	1	2	4	-2	0
Grenada	1	1	0	0	4	0	+4	3
Guadeloupe	3	2	0	1	7	2	+5	6
Greece	1	0	1	0	1	1	0	1
Guatemala	33	14	16	7	48	43	+5	44
Guyana	2	2	0	0	11	0	+11	6
Haiti	14	9	1	4	29	12	+17	19
Honduras	52	20	17	17	97	69	+28	46
Republic of Ireland	1	0	1	0	1	1	0	1
Iran	3	1	1	1	2	3	-1	3
Italy	3	2	0	1	2	1	+1	6
Jamaica	19	10	4	5	38	17	+21	24
Japan	2	0	1	1	7	8	-1	1
Morocco	1	1	0	0	4	0	+4	2
Martinique	1	1	0	0	4	2	+2	2
Mexico	28	6	15	26	22	55	-33	15
Netherlands	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
Netherlands Antilles	11	5	3	3	24	20	+4	13
New Zealand	1	1	0	0	4	0	+4	3
Nicaragua	12	11	1	0	46	6	+40	23
Norway	1	0	0	1	1	3	-2	0
Panama	37	24	5	8	66	21	+45	53
Paraguay	5	1	2	2	3	5	-2	4
Peru	6	1	1	4	6	12	-6	4
Poland	3	0	0	3	3	8	-5	0
Puerto Rico	2	1	1	0	6	2	+4	3
Czech Republic	2	0	0	2	1	5	-4	0
Russia	1	1	0	0	4	0	+4	2
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	6	6	0	0	36	4	+32	12
Saudi Arabia	1	1	0	0	5	1	+4	2
Scotland	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	2
Slovakia	2	1	0	1	4	3	+1	2
Spain	1	0	1	0	2	2	0	1
South Africa	1	0	0	1	1	2	-1	0
South Korea	4	2	1	1	6	5	+1	7
Switzerland	2	1	0	1	1	2	-1	3
Suriname	5	3	2	0	15	4	+11	10
Sweden	2	1	0	1	2	2	–	2
Trinidad and Tobago	15	7	6	2	24	15	+9	20
Turkey	1	0	1	0	1	1	–	1
Ukraine	1	0	0	1	0	4	-4	0
Uruguay	9	1	2	6	11	16	-5	5
United States	29	12	6	11	35	31	+4
Venezuela	8	2	2	4	7	8	-1	6
Wales	2	1	0	1	1	1	0	3
Yugoslavia	1	0	0	1	2	3	-1	0
Totals	443	190	115	138	710	564	+146	500

Facts

• Costa Rica was the first (and so far the only) Central American football team to win a game at a World Cup tournament.
• Costa Rica finished in first place in the 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification and 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification with the best punctuation in the history of the Hexagonal (23 pts).
• Costa Rica one of two (Cuba in 1938) Central American or Caribbean squad ever to advance to the Quarter Finals of the FIFA World Cup.

Kit history

Costa Rica wears traditionally a red jersey with blue shorts and white socks. Its away kit historically was a Juventus-style Black and White Striped Jersey with white shorts and white socks.(due to these colors being the ones of CS La Libertad, one of the oldest clubs in Costa Rica) However, after 1997, the striped kit was replaced by a white kit with blue shorts. Starting in 2015, Boston based sportswear company New Balance will be the kit provider of the national team, taking over for Italian company Lotto.

1990 Home (Vs Scotland)

1990 Home (Vs Czechoslovakia)

1990 Away

1997 Copa América Home

2000 Home

2002 Home

2014 World Cup away

See also

• Costa Rica national under-23 football team
• Costa Rica national under-20 football team
• Costa Rica national under-17 football team
• Costa Rica at the FIFA World Cup

External links

• Costa Rican FA Official
• Costa Rican FA Unofficial
• 1921 to 2009 Costa Rica match results by Marcos Romero at RSSSF