Costa Rica Tickets

Costa Rica is home to just 5 million people, yet it is one of Central America's most popular footballing nations.

Fans looking to see Los Ticos in the flesh can buy Costa Rica tickets via SeatPick.

History of the Costa Rica National Football Team

The Costa Rican Football Federation was founded in 1921 and the national team played its first official fixture that same year, against El Salvador, at the Independence Centenary Games.

The Federation didn't gain affiliation with CONCACAF until 1961, and therefore Costa Rica only played in a first major tournament two years later.

Los Ticos first truly rose onto the world footballing map in the early 21st century, breaking into the top 20 of the FIFA rankings in 2003.

The Costa Rica football team achieved an all-time high world ranking of 13th in 2015, following mesmerising performances at the FIFA World Cup the previous year.

Costa Rica at the World Cup

Costa Rica made its maiden World Cup bow at the 1990 event in Italy. The debutants scored surprise wins over both Scotland and Sweden, to progress to the knockout rounds alongside Brazil. Costa Rica ultimately lost out to Czechoslovakia in the Round of 16.

The Central American nation returned to the FIFA World Cup in 2002, once again sharing a group with Brazil. They were also drawn together with Turkey and China, with only the latter defeated by Costa Rica.

Los Ticos crashed out at the first round again four years later, this time going winless in a group featuring hosts Germany. Costa Rica didn't qualify for the 2010 event in South Africa but did feature at all of the next three editions.

2014 FIFA World Cup Dark Horse

Topping their group at the 2014 World Cup remains one of the finest achievements in the history of Costa Rican football. Playing at the spectacle event for just the fourth time, the men in red and blue were dealt a tough hand by having to share a group with England, Italy, and Uruguay.

Despite being the only nation in the group to have never won the World Cup, Costa Rica picked up two wins and a draw, conceding just a single goal versus these three football heavyweights. Los Ticos then edged Greece, on penalties, in the last-16 before their heroic run was cut short in heartbreaking fashion, also via a penalty shootout, against the Netherlands.

Costa Rica were knocked out from the 2018 and 2022 events at the group stage. The most recent tournament saw the Central Americans once again in and amongst the 'group of death'.

Los Ticos were thumped 7-0 by Spain and then lost, 4-2, to another European juggernaut in the form of Germany, though they did salvage a surprise win over Japan in their third and final group game.

Costa Rica National Team at Other Major Tournaments

Los Ticos the inaugural edition of the CONCACAF Championship in 1963 and clinched the title again six years later on home soil. Costa Rica were the winners of this tournament once more in 1989, the last edition before the tournament was amended to the Gold Cup. Costa Rica have yet to be crowned champions of the reformatted competition but did reach the Gold Cup final in 2002, losing to hosts USA.

The Central American country has also participated in numerous Copa America tournaments, organised by the South American football governing body CONMEBOL. Los Ticos made their Copa America debut in 1997, four years after nations outside of South America became eligible to play at the event. Costa Rica emerged winless from three group games versus Brazil, Colombia and Mexico.

Costa Rica fared better at Copa America 2001, topping its group with two wins out of three to reach the quarter-finals, but ultimately couldn't manage to overcome heavyweights Uruguay. At the following edition Costa Rica advanced from the group stage as one of the best-ranked third-place teams but again crashed out at the quarter-final stage, this time at the hands of Colombia.

Los Ticos were eliminated at the group stage on their next two appearances at the Copa America finals, in 2011 and 2016. Costa Rica would return to the South American showpiece in 2024, earning qualification with victory over Honduras.

Best Costa Rica Football Players

Celso Borges is the most-capped Costa Rica international footballer of all time. The midfielder earned his 163rd cap for Los Ticos in 2023.

Former striker Paulo Wanchope scored 45 goals in 73 international outings. He played for multiple English clubs, including West Ham United and Manchester City.

Only one player has scored more goals for Costa Rica than Wanchope: Rolando Fonseca. The centre-forward made his national team debut in May 1992, before his 18th birthday, and went on to score 47 goals in 113 appearances for Los Ticos.

Wálter Centeno and Álvaro Saborío are just two of several others who have amassed more than 100 appearances for the Central American nation.

Bryan Ruiz collected cap number 147 in November 2022, a few months after his 37th birthday, with the aim of becoming just the second individual to achieve 150 outings for the Costa Rica national soccer team. The attacking midfielder also represented Fulham in the Premier League, in addition to Dutch outfit PSV Eindhoven and Portuguese side Sporting CP.

Other well-known Costa Rican stars of recent years are goalkeeper Keylor Navas who has played for several major European clubs such as Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, as well as winger Joel Campbell who joined Arsenal at a young age and has gone on to feature more than 130 times for the national team.

Costa Rica National Team Stadium

Estadio Nacional is the home stadium for the national team. The venue is based in San José, the capital and largest city of Costa Rica. This ground has hosted the home matches of Los Ticos since 2011 and it can accommodate an estimated 35,000 spectators.

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