Mayra Madrigal
The Qatar 2022 Playoffs gave Costa Rica the last ticket to attend the World Cup after winning by a score of 1-0 against New Zealand. With this victory, the Concacaf representative team completed the group of 32 that will play the World Cup from November 21 to December 18 of this year.
The illusion was strong for both New Zealand and Costa Rica, considering the former had only played in two World Cups (1982 and 2010), while the latter has been in five (1990, 2002, 2006, 2014 and 2018). The “Ticos” were looking to qualify for their third World Cup in a row, while New Zealand wanted to end their losing streak, after not being able to go to the last two.
The Concacaf representative team was facing its last chance to be able to reach the World Cup, since it could not get a direct ticket in the qualifiers, being in fourth place in the zone. With a group full of seasoned veteran players, Costa Rica managed to narrowly edge their rival to become the final participant of Qatar 2022.
Qatar 2022 Playoffs: Review of Costa Rica vs New Zealand
As the game began, Costa Rica went ahead, and they took the lead on the scoreboard with a third-minute strike by Joel Campbell.
The Central America team sought to hold on to their advantage and goalkeeper Keylor Navas was essential in achieving this, as he made very good saves against New Zealand’s attacks.
The Kiwis tried to react after falling behind and focused on creating more and better chances. In this way at minute 39, Chris Wood managed to get the audience in the stadium to shout the tying goal, after receiving a cross in the area and taking an impossible shot for Navas. Unfortunately, during the celebration the goal was ruled out by the VAR, since it was determined that there had been a previous foul.
Despite the attempts, the representatives of the Oceania Football Confederation were unsuccessful and left at half-time with a partial defeat.
For the second half, Luis Fernando Suárez, the coach of the Costa Rican team made changes to his team to try to increase the advantage. His colleague, Danny Hay, did the same 20 minutes later, also looking to improve his team in search for the equalizer.
The changes seemed to be working for Costa Rica, as they were more aggressive. However, at minute 67, the Kiwis’ Kosta Barbarouses fouled Francisco Calvo. He was initially sanctioned by the referee Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohammed, but after reviewing the play with the VAR, the New Zealand player was expelled.
There were 20 minutes left in the game and surprisingly, New Zealand settled better on the field after the expulsion, generating several dangerous arrivals. With his expertise, Navas was able to keep the adversaries from leveling the score, giving Costa Rica the win.
Costa Rica joins Canada, Mexico and the United States, as the four representatives of Concacaf in this World Cup in Qatar 2022.
The «Ticos» will be part of Group E, and will have Spain, Germany and Japan as rivals.
