Costa Rica

Hansi Flick left in limbo as Germany fail to find new winning blueprint | World Cup 2022

Everything is connected. A whistle blows in Doha and within fractions of seconds, via a lattice of mobile phone networks and whispers and nudges, its sound has somehow travelled the 30 miles to Al Khor. And the cheer around the stadium gives the game away, and on the Germany bench Hansi Flick senses a change in the air, and he takes a look around, and he glances at his bench, and he knows, he just knows. He turns back to face the pitch. But his hands are in his pockets, and his thoughts are elsewhere.

Everything is connected. A World Cup group stage consists not simply of three discrete games but one cogent narrative, and if you don’t pay attention at the start you may well miss something that you need later. Here Germany loaded all their usual programmes, moved the ball with pace, did their jobs, scored four goals. But although they didn’t know it yet, none of it was any use to them. The game had already gone, and it had gone in eight wild minutes against Japan at the Khalifa International Stadium nine days earlier.

The great German sides could raise their game to suit the occasion, do whatever it took, squeeze every last drop out of their resources and system. Everyone does their job, and you win. For better and for worse, this team feel like its polar opposite. And so the problem comes when you combine the classic German mentality with a modern style of football that demands perpetual intensity, that needs every part of the machine to be 100% switched on at all times.

This game, as futile as it proved, was ample evidence of this. Germany were utterly dominant in the opening minutes and yet had just a single goal to show for it. Meanwhile Costa Rica went up the other end and scored twice in 12 chaotic minutes as the gloomy news filtered through from Doha and Germany allowed their minds to drift. Flick had withdrawn Ilkay Gündogan and Leon Goretzka in an attempt to engineer greater attacking thrust but in so doing had hollowed out his midfield and left Germany vulnerable to the counter. Everything is connected.

Kai Havertz came on and burgled two sharp goals; Niclas Füllkrug added a fourth with a classic poacher’s finish. Germany had saved Spain but they were powerless to save themselves. There was, perhaps, a bitter symmetry in the scoreline. Germany 4-2 Costa Rica: the first game of the 2006 World Cup in Munich, the game that brought the curtain up on Germany’s summer of love, unleashed a wave of footballing fervour that would carry them to a World Cup win in 2014 and a decade of golden memories. Now, ironically, the music has stopped on the very same chord.

Hansi Flick watches on the touchline as Germany take a throw-in against Costa Rica. — Hansi Flick, pictured on the touchline during his side’s game against Costa Rica, may pay for Germany’s World Cup exit with his job. Photograph: Amin Mohammad Jamali/Getty Images

And so the postmortems can begin, the fingers can be pointed, the scapegoats sought. Flick may just pay for this debacle with his job, although the smart money is on him being given one more crack. There is, after all, talent to be mined here. Havertz, the wonderful Jamal Musiala, the teenage Dortmund striker Youssoufa Moukoko, the marvellous Leverkusen playmaker Florian Wirtz: technical players, modern players, players a good coach can build a team around.

Meanwhile others will fall by the wayside. Thomas Müller has already hinted at retirement. Manuel Neuer and Gündogan may even go too. Mario Götze has surely played his last tournament. There is a tactical blueprint, a base to build from, a home Euros in 2024 to work towards. German football has often prided itself on its composure, its refusal to press the panic button, its refusal even to acknowledge the existence of a panic button. Even after a third successive tournament failure it is possible to spin an enthusiastic yarn around this team, paint this setback as the inevitable collateral damage of a longer reinvention.

Jamal Musiala evades a Costa Rica defender. His performances were a rare bright spot for Germany during the tournament. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Yet it is impossible to shake the feeling that something essential has been lost here, too. Everything is connected. The grounds for German optimism are also the grounds for pessimism. The technical qualities of the new generation have come at a price: a lack of defensive rigour, a chronic absence of genuine strikers, an inability to capitalise on dominance or see out the tough periods, a naivete that at times has strayed into the realm of complacency.

These are not bad players. But for too long they have lacked direction, purpose, a safety net. Germany brought just a few thousand fans out to Qatar. The indifference back home is palpable. Since Euro 2016 they have been behind in every single tournament game they have played. And by 2026 it will be 12 years since they last reached the knockout stages of the World Cup. Everything is connected. And here, the four-time world champions learned that lesson in the cruellest of fashions.

Germany dumped out of World Cup despite wild 4-2 win against Costa Rica | World Cup 2022

There was an added pain for Germany in the basic jauntiness of Costa Rica’s designated goal music, a taunting, cajoling blast of trumpets and maracas, the kind of thing that might get played on a gameshow as a bucket of gunge descends over the dunce’s booth.

With 48 minutes gone in the Doha-orbit World Cup zone, Germany had been bossing this Group E endgame, cruising a little uneasily, but with their eyes fixed on the horizon towards the last 16. The campaign had been weird. There was Antonio Rüdiger’s mocking knees-high run. And the Niclas Füllkrug interlude, where a man who could actually score a goal briefly became a kind of Teutonic folk saviour. But this felt like a kind of safety.

Then semi-disaster struck. Japan scored at the Khalifa International Stadium. Germany had to crank the engines, score again and hope for a Spanish revival. At which point outright disaster struck as Japan went 2-1 up, and Germany were freewheeling towards the exit doors. A mild, controlled 1-0 had become a meek, end-of-an era 1-0.

Germany still needed a just-in-case goal, needed to play like this was all there was. They did the opposite, falling apart instead, as a vast channel of space opened up down the right. Costa Rica surged though, Keysher Fuller crossing, Manuel Neuer saving the first header, and Yeltsin Tejeda burying the rebound.

The music blared. Hansi Flick slumped deep in his padded chair, eyes bulging. At which point, something even more incredible happened. Briefly, this stopped being a Germany story and became a Costa Rica one.

The second Ticos goal was farcical, all flailing legs, Juan Pablo Vargas bundling the ball home. And with that Costa Rica stood on the verge of pub-quiz immortality, all set to eliminate in their final group game the team that beat them 7-0 in their first.

Juan Pablo Vargas celebrates his second-half strike with his Costa Rica teammates. Photograph: Dan Mullan/Getty Images

But wait. What was this. More madness. Germany equalised! 2-2. Where are we? Is this really the place Vendôme? Kai Havertz got the equaliser. There were 17 minutes to go. How many more worlds, how many alternate universes would we have to absorb?

Füllkrug had already been summoned to add muscle and vibes to Germany’s attack. Jamal Musiala hit a post twice. Group E has been a weird kind of torture for Germany, but this was something new. As the seconds slipped away we had mutual assured footballing destruction on the cards, both teams here going out, six goals scored, a wild crisscross of emotions.

Havertz made it 3-2. Germany still needed one more with four minutes to go, and one more from Spain. Pointlessly they did get to 4-2, Füllkrug scoring after a wild, hallucinogenic VAR delay during which the stadium seemed to melt and ooze through the floor. Germany had done Spain a solid. Any chance of returning the favour?

It wasn’t to be. Japan topped the group. Both sets of players slunk from the pitch. Both had come to the stadium still in the Group E gutter, but looking at the stars. At kick-off all four teams could still go through. All four could go out.

This was World Cup group final matchday as a freeform jazz flute solo, and a great advert for the four-team format just as Fifa contemplates tearing it up to inflict pre-match penalty shoot-outs and other three-team gimmickry for the next bloated edition. More is not always better. Often it’s much, much worse.

Germany would qualify if they won and Spain beat Japan. A draw there would mean they had to score more goals than Japan. Or they could just win by two goals if Japan failed to win. Or they could just say hang it all, win 9-0 and go through anyway.

Flick went for broke in a nuanced way, with Thomas Müller starting ahead of Musiala and the twin man-bun speedsters Leroy Sané and Serge Gnabry.

Kai Havertz fires past Keylor Navas to restore Germany’s lead. Photograph: Darko Bandić/AP

And the Al Bayt felt like a fitting last-chance saloon, a stadium with an air of the one-horse desert town, the lone saloon, the clock ticking around closer to midnight. It is one of the more pointless vanity projects at this despot-ball tournament, a vast fibreglass replica-tent, with rows of empty seats for this do-or-die World Cup game.

Musiala was sublime early on, coming on like a miraculous human pond-skater, gliding through the red shirts, brain whirring, scanning the space, making the game throb and buzz with possibilities. The opening goal came from Musiala’s side, David Raum crossing for Gnabry to head into the far corner,

Meanwhile at the Khalifa, Spain had also gone one up against Japan. This was falling Germany’s way. And for a while nothing much happened. The noise level dipped to scattered shouts. The All Bayt waited, awkwardly for time to pass. It came in a rush at the end.

Keysher Fuller’s late strike stuns Japan and revives Costa Rica’s World Cup | World Cup 2022

The Ahmad bin Ali Stadium exploded when Keysher Fuller’s 14-yard strike proved too high for goalkeeper Shūichi Gonda for two reasons. Those of a Costa Rica persuasion were delighted to see not only the winner of this encounter but also their side’s first shot on target of Qatar 2022, after Luis Fernando Suárez’s men had drawn a blank in their 7-0 drubbing by Spain.

For the goal, Hidemasa Morita was Japan’s first culprit, gifting the ball to Yeltsin Tejeda who found Fuller – and though Fuller subsequently did the business, Gonda was the second Samurai Blue man to blame as he aided him by being too flatfooted.

In a late flurry Japan appealed for a penalty for a Bryan Oviedo handball after Daichi Kamada’s shot but to no avail. So when Germany play Spain this evening they may be the only team with zero points in Group E but this result is a great help as they are to face Costa Rica last. Japan now have to regroup after their seismic victory over Germany as this was a static affair following the falsest of false dawns of a bright opening that had begun when Morita and Yuki Soma claimed a corner between them. The latter swung this in, Ayase Ueda missed the header, and a shaky Costa Rica escaped.

More encouraging for Costa Rica was a burst from the 120-cap Joel Campbell that earned a free-kick, though Celso Borges’s delivery was plucked from the air easily by Gonda, Japan’s man of the match in the win against Germany.

Japan handed Costa Rica another fright when Ritsu Doan, whose equaliser versus Hansi Flick’s side earned him a starter’s shirt today, flashed the ball across Keylor Navas’s goal but no teammate was present.

From here, the quality flatlined in what was a stodgy midfield standoff. As illustrated by the 0-0 shots-on-target count at the interval, neither team was able to seize the initiative.

Costa Rica’s Keysher Fuller curls in the game’s only goal against Japan — Keysher Fuller scores with Costa Rica’s first shot on target against Japan. Photograph: Dylan Martinez/Reuters

When Francisco Calvo and Campbell did take aim these were flaccid efforts. So it fell into the “small mercies” department that there was only a minute of time added by the referee, Michael Oliver, in the first half.

The Japan manager, Hajime Moriyasu, decided Yuto Nagatomo and Ueda had contributed enough, removing them ahead of the second half for Hiroki Ito and Takuma Asano, the latter of whom scored the memorable goal which downed Germany.

Twenty-seven seconds in and an actual shot was saved by Navas: Morita was the player who finally found the target and the memory was revived of how good Japan were after half-time against Flick’s team.

The manner of a Campbell dribble, in which he engineered a path straight out of touch with scant pressure on him, suggested his nation might not enjoy be any better, though. The former Arsenal forward’s next entry into the contest ledger was to balloon a 40-yard diagonal free-kick out and, when Wataru Endo was fouled, Soma did the same from the edge of the Costa Rican area.

Moments later, at a near-identical spot, Calvo yanked down Junya Ito, just on as a substitute, and this time Kamada was the wasteful one, hammering the dead-ball right into the wall.

Next came Fuller’s decisive intervention but this, really, was no match to remember.

Gavi makes World Cup history for Spain in 7-0 thrashing of feeble Costa Rica | World Cup 2022

Let’s do this by numbers, shall we? For the first time in four World Cups, Spain won their opening game. Ferran Torres scored their 100th goal in the tournament and Gavi, one of two teenagers starting this match, became their youngest scorer. They were just two of six goalscorers with Spain reaching that magical number the vidiprinter needs to spell out to avoid confusion. They took 17 shots, allowed none, and scored 7 (seven) times. No wonder by the time that Carlos Soler scored the sixth, his celebration consisted of a point and a wink, a “we’re here”.

And there was still time for Alvaro Morata to add another, two minutes later. Down on the bench, Luis Enrique was laughing, his team having surely presented their candidacy for the competition. Not least because those weren’t the only numbers and it was the way it felt too. Spain played over one thousand passes here, and if the old question used to run “yeah, but how many of them mattered?” the new answer looks like it could well be: all of them. It is hard to recall a performance as complete as this.

Although, from Costa Rica’s point of view, it might be equally difficult to remember one as calamitous. An aged side were just taken to pieces by the kids, with a little help from one or two veterans. For the central Americans, it started badly and just never got better. Right to the end, Spain were slicing away at them. Right from the start, they might have suspected as much.

It took 56 seconds for Costa Rica to touch the ball for the first time and the same again for them to do it again. Which wouldn’t have been a problem except that it turned out to be permanent; it might even have been worse for Luis Suárez’s side. He had anticipated that Spain would have more of the possession, had accepted it too, but not this much. And certainly not in these areas of the pitch. It might have appeared easy for Luis Enrique’s side, but they never eased up, the ball moved sharply and with intent. With end product too.

A lovely curled pass from Pedri after just four minutes found Dani Olmo at the far post and although he guided his side-footed volley fractionally wide, Spain were soon back again. And again and again. And, just when Costa Rica thought they could breathe a bit, again. This was relentless, ruthless. Four more minutes and Costa Rica were carved open, Jordi Alba’s ball across guided a fraction past the other post by Marco Asensio. Three more minutes, virtually of all them spent with the ball at Spanish feet, and the opening goal arrived.

Gavi’s little dinked pass on the edge of the area took a deflection and Dani Olmo controlled and turned in one, taking the ball with him. A reverse spin, a lovely touch and he was left in front of Navas, who he beat comfortably. At that point, Fifa’s stats, which now allow for those moments when neither team have the ball, said that Spain had 79% of possession – 10% of the game was contested – but those were contests Spain invariably won, an intensity to their excellence. Gavi, as usual, led the press.

Only 18, he and Pedri, who is 19 and the smooth glider of the two teenagers, dominated this. The last two Golden Boy winners were, well, golden. But then all of them dominated this, a collective endeavour that was hugely convincing, the most remarkable thing about those stats being that they didn’t change. The ball just kept bouncing off Sergio Busquets’ boot, exactly where he always wanted it to, no need for it to linger there any longer. The wide positions, occupied by Olmo and Torres, were very wide, the pitch made much too big for Costa Rica to ever get anywhere on time. Asensio was the false nine, mobile and always available. And perhaps you could call Rodri a false four.

The Manchester City midfielder was employed at centre-back, but that was partly because they knew they would see a lot of possession – “the centre-backs will touch the ball more than 100 times,” Luis Enrique’s assistant said – and in positions that would normally belong to the pivot, the whole team so high up the pitch, that Rodri’s role often meant stepping out in support of the play in areas closer to the other area than his own. He had 91 of those 100 touches by half-time alone.

Gavi

Spain meanwhile had three goals. Another long period of possession ended with Alba again flying up the left, legs whirring. Busquets found him, he found Asensio and Asensio turned the shot in, first time to make it 2-0 after just 20 minutes. Navas might have done better, but then he wasn’t the only one. This was so one-sided as to be absurd. All in white, like ghosts, Costa Rica’s players were on the pitch but really just not in the match. As ever, it was hard to judge how much that was their limitations, how much Spain’s quality. Not that there could be any doubt that the seleccion was good. Very, very good.

Up in the stands, above disappointingly large numbers of empty seats, match reports were being written without mention of any of the Costa Rica players. It was genuinely hard to recall anything that any of them had done, nothing really to say; they were there only as victims. Or, it turned out, or perpetrators. Such as the moment when Carlos Martínez – there’s one – was bamboozled by Alba, going past him one way and then back again the other. Or when, in the very next minute, Celso Borges – there’s another – clipped Alba inside his penalty area.

Even the penalty spoke of superiority, ease, a total control of everything, especially time. Torres ran, slowed, paused, and rolled the ball into the net to make it 3-0 after half an hour. By half-time, Spain had well over 500 passes and 85% of possession on the old measure. The surprise was that Costa Rica could claim 15%. Those numbers were racking up fast, the passes on their way towards one thousand, the goals soon at four.

Ferran Torres (right) celebrates with Gavi after Torres scored his team's fourth goal against Costa Rica — Ferran Torres (right) celebrates with Gavi after Torres scored his team’s fourth goal against Costa Rica. Photograph: Raúl Arboleda/AFP/Getty Images

This time maybe there was an answer to that inescapable question; this time, Costa Rica could be blamed directly. Spain progressed up the right, Gavi turned the ball into the area, and there was Torres. In front of him Francisco Calvo went down on his knee for some reason, tried to get up again and just saw Torres turn away from him. Oviedo could do nothing either and the mess now unfixable, Torres put it past Navas again.

Spain made changes, Busquets and Alba off, presumably to be protected, Torres departing to applause for his two goals. Nico Williams then replaced Asensio. Not much changed, certainly not the pattern, Morata on and quickly hitting into the side netting, the difference and the generation gap expressed when Gavi flicked over Bryan Ruiz, 19 years his senior.

Even better was to come. Williams raced through the middle, an extraordinary 40, 50-yard run cutting through Costa Rica to slip Morata in. Navas got to him on the edge of the six-yard box but Morata turned back and crossed to the edge of the area where Gavi was steaming in and he struck a superb volley with the outside of his boot in off the post. Spain had five, and they still weren’t finished.

World Cup 2022: complete guide to all 831 players | World Cup 2022

Jump to another team

Ecuador

Jump to another team

This is Ecuador’s fourth World Cup and there are hopes they will equal their best performance, reaching the last 16. Read the team guide here.

Star player
Moisés Caicedo

Strengths

Ecuador have a very young team and with that comes speed, energy and adrenaline, with several new talents hoping to make their mark.

Weaknesses

Goalscoring. La Tricolor do not concede a lot but on the other hand they don’t find the net that often themselves either.

Netherlands

United States

Jump to another team

Jump to another team

There is the sense that this generation of players have peaked and that the bronze from four years ago is as good as it will get. Read the team guide here.

Star player
Kevin De Bruyne

Strengths

There is an abundance of talent in the squad and any team with Courtois and De Bruyne will be expected to go deep into the tournament.

Weaknesses

The defence is ageing and slow and the main goal threat, Lukaku, has been struggling with injuries this season.

Canada

Cameroon

Jump to another team

There is a lack of stars in Cameroon’s squad but that may not be a bad thing. Read the team guide here.

Star player
André-Frank Zambo Anguissa

Strengths

The squad has an impressive mental strength and the FA has worked hard to add players of dual nationality, such as Mbeumo.

Weaknesses

The coaching staff and players have only worked with each other for eight months and form has been patchy.

Serbia

Jump to another team

Every tournament is the same in Serbia: expectations that do not match the reality. However, there may be ground for optimism this time. Read the team guide here.

Star player
Dusan Vlahovic

Strengths

All the attacking players are on the rise and full of confidence. There are no egos and coach Stojkovic gives them freedom to play.

Weaknesses

The defence does not instil a lot of confidence in Serbian fans and one single mistake can lead to a full-blown collapse.

Switzerland

Jump to another team

Yakin has been able to build on Petkovic’s foundation and they stayed in the Nations League top group despite a poor start. Read the team guide here.

Strengths

The generation that won the Under-17 World Cup in 2009 are in their peak years and players such as Akanji and Embolo are in fine form.

Weaknesses

Three of the four goalkeepers have had injury problems and the decision to take only two recognised full-backs could backfire.

Ghana

Jump to another team

This is a young Black Stars team in transition. The quality is there but this World Cup could be either a spectacular failure or a rip-roaring success.

Star player
Mohammed Kudus

Strengths

Ghana outsmarted Nigeria in the play-off and have added players of dual nationality since then, especially in defence and on the wings, and look better for it.

Weaknesses

Where will the goals come from? That is the main question for coach Addo. If that is answered, Ghana could go far in Qatar.

Portugal

Jump to another team

Cristiano Ronaldo’s power is on the wane and Fernando Santos has lost some of the credit gained in 2016 but Portugal have never had a stronger squad.

Star player
Cristiano Ronaldo

Strengths

Portugal have excellent goalkeepers, some of the best full-backs in the world and quality solutions all over midfield. Oh, and firepower up front.

Weaknesses

Santos does not have an abundance of centre-backs and up front Ronaldo’s struggles and Jota’s injury have cast a cloud over the preparations.

South Korea

Jump to another team

Things were looking good for manager Bento, until Son broke his eye socket. He could still play though.

Strengths

Bento’s 4-1-4-1 system worked well in qualifying with a 2-0 win against Iran the highlight.

Weaknesses

Son’s injury the major concern but several key players, such as the two Hwangs and Kwon, have been out of form.

Uruguay

Jump to another team

Uruguay are an unknown quantity but Diego Alonso has a good mix of youth and experience in the squad.

Star player
Federico Valverde

Strengths

Alonso has one of the best midfields at the tournament, led by Valverde, while Núñez, Suárez and Cavani are a threat up front.

Weaknesses

There are huge question marks about the defence with the fitness of Godín, Giménez and Araujo uncertain.

World Cup 2022 team guides part 17: Costa Rica | Costa Rica

This article is part of the Guardian’s World Cup 2022 Experts’ Network, a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 32 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from two countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 20 November.

The plan

This cycle for the Costa Rica national team can be divided into before the arrival of the coach, Luis Fernando Suárez, and after. The Colombian arrived like a whirlwind in the middle of 2021 and, despite having very little time, set about a generational revamp that took everyone by surprise. He gave debuts to 22 players in 15 months, 11 of them in qualifiers. In total he tried a remarkable 77 players. “It was a bit too much at one point,” Suárez admitted. “Something was lost.”

He got off to a tough start, being eliminated by Canada in the 2021 Gold Cup quarter-finals and picking up just six points from the first seven games in World Cup qualifying. But in the narrow away defeats against USA and Canada it all started to come together. A new team was taking shape, with several players either in their teens or having just turned 20. The 18-year-old winger Jewison Bennette was one of them and he played a part in a transformation of form that brought 19 points out of a possible 21 from the last seven games and an intercontinental playoff for a World Cup spot. Against New Zealand they produced a hallmark Costa Rican performance, strong in defence with two sturdy banks of four and a goalkeeper, Keylor Navas, in inspirational form.

Quick Guide

Costa Rica group fixtures

Show

v Spain Wed 23 Nov, 4pm Al Thumama Stadium

v Japan Sun 27 Nov, 10am Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium

v Germany Thu 1 Dec, 7pm Al Bayt Stadium

All times GMT

This Costa Rica team does not score a lot of goals (13 in 14 qualifiers) but they concede even fewer, with Navas hugely important and Óscar Duarte and Francisco Calvo a strong central defence pairing. Going forward the team rely on speedy counterattacks, using the distribution skills Celso Borges and Joel Campbell to unleash the pace of Bennette and Anthony Contreras.

So much has changed in the past 15 months that the players believe La Tricolor can achieve something special. “We want to go to the World Cup with the aim of winning it. Many will say that we are crazy but let them think that then,” said the defender Kendall Waston.

The coach

This will be Luis Fernando Suárez’s third World Cup, an astonishing achievement by the 62-year-old who led Ecuador to the last 16 at the 2006 tournament and Honduras eight years later, when they failed to get out of the group. “The World Cup is an obsession,” he told Fifa.com this year, “and that is why I had to accept the Costa Rica job.” The playoff win over New Zealand earned him a contract extension until 2026.

Star player

He may be 35 now but Keylor Navas is still the most prominent Costa Rican player in world football. The three-times Champions League winner with Real Madrid has not been played at all for PSG this season because of Gianluigi Donnarumma but appears to have lost none of his sharp reflexes when on duty with Costa Rica. He remains the leader on and off the pitch. “My faith is the most important thing,” he said while playing in Spain. “It changed my life. It filled a void in my heart.”

Keylor Navas takes command in a crowd penalty area during Costa Rica’s World Cup playoff win over and New Zealand. — Keylor Navas takes command in a crowd penalty area during the playoff win over and New Zealand. Photograph: Karim Jaafar/AFP/Getty Images

Unsung Hero

The 30-year-old Francisco Calvo arrives in Qatar without the spotlight on him but maybe it should be as the leader of a defence that conceded only eight goals in 14 World Cup qualifiers. He featured in 13 of those games, the outfield player who played the most minutes. He speaks four languages – Spanish, Portuguese, English and French – and pops up with the odd important goal too. Joined Konyaspor in Turkey from San Jose Earthquakes last summer.

Probable lineup

Qatar stance

The team have been very quiet when it comes to the situation in Qatar. Neither players and coaching staff nor the Costa Rican Football Federation (FCRF) have referred to the human rights or migrant workers’ rights in the buildup to the tournament. Players are not normally very vocal when it comes to political issues so that is perhaps no surprise.

National anthem

The Himno Nacional de Costa Rica has been in place since 1852. Its music was composed by Manuel María Gutiérrez Flores and its lyrics were written by José María Zeledón Brenes in 1903. It was declared official on 10 June 1949. One of the most significant parts is the following: “Hail, oh country! Your prodigal soil, sweet shelter and sustenance gives us; under the limpid blue of your sky, long live work and peace!” The anthem highlights the love for the country as well as the hardworking and peaceful spirit of its citizens. Costa Rica does not have an army.

All-time cult heroes

Two names should be mentioned here: Paulo Wanchope and Bryan Ruiz. Wanchope became a cult hero in England with Derby, West Ham and Manchester City and scored three World Cup goals for his country, two of them against Germany in 2006. However, Ruiz probably just edges it with a record number of World Cup games (eight) for Los Ticos – with the promise of more to come in 2022. He was also prominent in Costa Rica’s biggest feat so far, when they reached the quarter-finals in 2014, scoring against Italy in the group and Greece in the last 16.

Esteban Valverde and Cristian Brenes write for La Nacion. Follow Esteban here and Christian here on Twitter.

Qatar: beyond the football

Qatar: beyond the football

Qatar: beyond the football

Qatar: beyond the football

Ecuador

Strengths

Weaknesses

Netherlands

Strengths

Weaknesses

Qatar

Strengths

Weaknesses

Senegal

Strengths

Weaknesses

England

Strengths

Weaknesses

Iran

Strengths

Weaknesses

United States

Strengths

Weaknesses

Wales

Strengths

Weaknesses

Argentina

Strengths

Weaknesses

Mexico

Strengths

Weaknesses

Poland

Strengths

Weaknesses

Saudi Arabia

Strengths

Weaknesses

Australia

Strengths

Weaknesses

Denmark

Strengths

Weaknesses

France

Strengths

Weaknesses

Tunisia

Strengths

Weaknesses

Costa Rica

Strengths

Weaknesses

Germany

Strengths

Weaknesses

Japan

Strengths

Weaknesses

Spain

Strengths

Weaknesses

Belgium

Strengths

Weaknesses

Canada

Strengths

Weaknesses

Croatia

Strengths

Weaknesses

Morocco

Strengths

Weaknesses

Brazil

Strengths

Weaknesses

Cameroon