Costa Rica is most known for its coffee beans and bananas. The country is one of the more developed ones in Central America practicing a long-standing and stable democracy which heavily invests in education.
The economy, which was once heavily dependent on agriculture, has transformed to include a few more sectors such as finance, tourism, pharmaceutics, etc.
Much like any other country in South and Central America, Costa Rica and its people are very passionate about soccer – ‘futbol’ in Spanish. The National Stadium (Estadio Nacional) in San Jose is always packed with fans whenever Costa Rica’s national team, La Seleccion or “La Sele” plays and there is nothing more important for them on that day than to see their team win. See the latest sports betting online ag odds for Costa Rica fixtures.
In the next few paragraphs, we will talk a little bit more about the Costa Rica national team.
Over the years. the national team, administered by the Costa Rican Football Federation (FEDEFUTBOL) the governing body for football in Costa Rica, has had success and is most known for its regularity and consistency.
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 Central American Football Union (UNCAF) since 1990.
Costa Rica is the most successful national football team in the history of Central America. They have won three CONCACAF Championships (1963, 1969 and 1989) and a leading with eight championships in the Copa Centroamericana and its predecessor. 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.
Their current tournament is the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
