The Costa Rica national football team () represents Costa Rica in men's international football, which is governed by the Federación Costarricense de Fútbol (), the governing body for football in Costa Rica founded in 1921. It has been an affiliate member of FIFA since 1927 and a founding affiliate member of CONCACAF since 1961. Regionally, it is an affiliate member of UNCAF in the Central American Zone. From 1938 to 1961, it was a member of CCCF, the former governing body of football in Central America and Caribbean and a predecessor confederation of CONCACAF, and also a member of PFC, the former unified confederation of the Americas, from 1946 to 1961.
Costa Rica has qualified for the FIFA World Cup six times, it is one of four CONCACAF teams to have advanced to the knockout stage, reaching the quarter-finals in 2014 and also reaching the round of 16 in 1990. It also participated twice in the Olympic Games (1980 and 1984).
Costa Rica has participated twenty-three times in CONCACAF's premier continental competition, it is the third most successful team in its confederation and the most successful Central American team, winning 3 CONCACAF Championship titles (1963, 1969 and 1989), becoming the first champions of the competition in 1963. The team's best performance under the CONCACAF Gold Cup format was finishing as runners-up in 2002. It has participated four times in League A of the CONCACAF Nations League, finishing in fourth place in the 2021 finals. It has participated six times in the Copa América, reaching the quarter-finals (2001 and 2004), and also participated twice in the Panamerican Championship, finishing in third place in 1956.
Regionally, the team won 7 CCCF Championship titles and 8 Copa Centroamericana titles.
Costa Rica 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 and has been widely considered to be the second or third best team in the CONCACAF, 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 qualified for the 2002 and 2006 World Cups. In 2014, Costa Rica achieved 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 16 they defeated Greece 5âÂÂ3 via a penalty shoot-out after a 1âÂÂ1 draw. Moreover, during their match against the Greek team, Keylor Navas saved more than 15 shots. They reached the quarter-finals for the first time but were defeated by the Netherlands, also in a penalty shoot-out (3âÂÂ4) after a scoreless draw on 5 July. Both their 2018 and 2022 World Cup campaigns ended in a fourth place group stage exit, with their only points coming from a 2âÂÂ2 draw against Switzerland in 2018 and a 1âÂÂ0 win over Japan in 2022.
The national team made its debut in the Independence Centenary Games held in Guatemala City in September 1921, winning their first game 7âÂÂ0 against El Salvador. In the final, Costa Rica defeated 6âÂÂ0 Guatemala to claim the trophy.
Costa Rica's team in the late 1940s acquired the nickname "The Gold Shorties". Throughout the '50s and '60s, they were 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 included Ruben Jimenez, Errol Daniels, Leonel Hernandez and Edgar Marin. However, Costa Rica was not able to utilize this advantage, hence failed to reach any World Cup at that decade.
At the end of the 1960s their fortunes declined as Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Haiti, Trinidad & Tobago and Canada rose in prominence.
Costa Rica failed to qualify for any of the World Cups in the 1970s and 1980s, and did not reach the final round of the CONCACAF qualifying until the 1986 qualifiers.
They participated in two consecutive 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 3âÂÂ2, 3âÂÂ0 and 3âÂÂ0 respectively. In Los Angeles, the Ticos lost 3âÂÂ0 against the United States, and 4âÂÂ1 against Egypt, but beat a strong Italy team, which included Walter Zenga, Pietro Vierchowod, Franco Baresi and Aldo Serena, 1âÂÂ0 with a goal by the midfielder Enrique Rivers.
Costa Rica won the 1989 CONCACAF Championship to qualify for the finals of a World Cup for the first time. In the first round of the qualifiers, they beat Panama 3âÂÂ1 on aggregate after a 2âÂÂ0 away victory in the second leg, with goals by Juan Cayasso and Hernán Medford. They were drawn against Mexico in the second round, but advanced automatically when their opponents were disqualified for age fraud.
Costa Rica started the final qualifying group stage with a home victory and an away defeat against both Guatemala and the United States. They drew 1âÂÂ1 with Trinidad and Tobago and then beat the same opponents 1âÂÂ0 at home with a goal by Cayasso. They achieved an important away win, 4âÂÂ2 against El Salvador at the Estadio Cuscatlán, with goals from , Cayasso and a brace from Leonidas Flores, before beating El Salvador 1âÂÂ0 in San José with a goal from Pastor Fernández. They finished first in the group table, ahead of the United States on goal difference.
Placed in Group C at the World Cup finals, Costa Rica began by beating Scotland 1âÂÂ0 thanks to another goal by Cayasso. Although they lost to Brazil by the same score, they came from behind to beat Sweden 2âÂÂ1 in their final group match to reach the knockout stages. There, they lost 4âÂÂ1 to Czechoslovakia, for whom TomÃ¡à ¡ Skuhravý scored a hat-trick.
After failing to qualify for the 1994 and 1998 editions of the World Cup, the Ticos placed first in qualification for the 2002 World Cup held in South Korea and Japan. During the qualifiers, Costa Rica were coached by Brazilian GÃÂlson Nunes, and then by the naturalised Brazilian, Alexandre Guimarães. The first qualifying group stage began with an unexpected 2âÂÂ1 defeat to Barbados. After this humiliation, Costa Rica beat the United States 2âÂÂ1 at the Ricardo Saprissa Stadium, with goals from Rolando Fonseca and Hernán Medford. They then beat Guatemala 2âÂÂ1 in the Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto, with two goals from Paulo Wanchope and Barbados 3âÂÂ0 at the Ricardo Saprissa, with goals from Jafet Soto, Fonseca and Medford. A draw against the United States and a 2âÂÂ1 defeat to Guatemala forced Costa Rica into a play-off against Guatemala in Miami. Costa Rica won 5âÂÂ2 with two goals from Fonseca and one each from Wanchope, Reynaldo Parks and Jafeth Soto.
Costa Rica displayed fine attacking form during the final qualifying round, beginning with a 2âÂÂ2 draw against Honduras at the Ricardo Saprissa, with goals from Fonseca and Rodrigo Cordero, and a 3âÂÂ0 defeat of Trinidad and Tobago at the Morera Soto. Their only loss in this round came when the United States beat them 1âÂÂ0. Costa Rica bounced back with a 2âÂÂ1 win against Mexico in Mexico City, a match known as the Aztecazo, with goals from Fonseca and Medford. Further wins over Jamaica, Honduras and Trinidad and Tobago took Costa Rica to the brink of qualification, which they sealed with an emotional 2âÂÂ0 win against the United States in the Saprissa, with a brace from Fonseca.
In the finals, Costa Rica were drawn into Group C with Brazil, China, and Turkey. Their campaign started in Gwangju, where the Ticos beat China 2âÂÂ0. In their second game against Turkey in Incheon, Winston Parks scored an 86th-minute goal to earn a 1âÂÂ1 draw. Against Brazil, Costa Rica fought back from 3âÂÂ0 down to 3âÂÂ2 early in the second half, only to concede two further goals and lose 5âÂÂ2. With Turkey beating China 3âÂÂ0, Costa Rica finished behind Turkey on goal difference and were eliminated.
Costa Rica again managed to qualify for the World Cup finals in 2006, albeit with difficulties that saw their American coach Steve Sampson depart after they required away goals to beat Cuba in the preliminary phase. The Colombian Jorge Luis Pinto took over for the next round, which began with a disastrous 5âÂÂ2 defeat at home against Honduras and a 2âÂÂ1 loss in Guatemala. Costa Rica recovered with two wins over Canada and a resounding 5âÂÂ0 triumph over Guatemala, when Wanchope scored a hat-trick and Carlos Hernández and Fonseca added further goals. Costa Rica advanced to the hexagonal round by winning the group.
In the final round they started with a 2âÂÂ1 defeat against Mexico at the Saprissa, before beating Panama by the same score, with goals from Wayne Wilson and Roy Myrie. Pinto was dismissed after a goalless draw with Trinidad and Tobago, and Guimarães returned as coach. His first match ended in a 3âÂÂ0 defeat to the United States, but wins followed against Guatemala, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago. Costa Rica decisively beat the United States in the Saprissa, 3âÂÂ0, with a goal from Wanchope and two from Hernández, to guarantee their third World Cup qualification.
On 9 June 2006, Costa Rica played their debut match in Munich in the opening match of the World Cup against the hosts, Germany. Wanchope scored to equalise after an early goal from Philipp Lahm, and later added another, but Costa Rica lost 4âÂÂ2. They failed to match this encouraging performance in their remaining two games, losing 3âÂÂ0 against Ecuador and 2âÂÂ1 against Poland in a dead rubber.
Costa Rica began the qualifying competition for the 2010 World Cup against Grenada, winning 5âÂÂ2 on aggregate (2âÂÂ2, 3âÂÂ0). They won all six games played in the next phase, against El Salvador (1âÂÂ0, 3âÂÂ1), Haiti (3âÂÂ1, 2âÂÂ0) and Suriname (7âÂÂ0, 4âÂÂ1).
With two games left in the Hexagonal round, Costa Rica trailed Honduras by one point in trying to win the third automatic qualification place behind the United States and Mexico. When Honduras lost 3âÂÂ2 at home to the United States, Costa Rica overtook them with a 4âÂÂ0 win against Trinidad and Tobago. Needing to win the final match in Washington, D.C. against the United States to ensure qualification, the Ticos led 2âÂÂ0 at half-time, but Jonathan Bornstein scored an injury-time equaliser to draw the match 2âÂÂ2. Meanwhile, Honduras's 1âÂÂ0 victory over El Salvador moved them into third place in the group table on goal difference.
Costa Rica finished fourth, pushing them into a play-off with the fifth-placed team from the CONMEBOL region, Uruguay. The Ticos lost the first leg in San José 1âÂÂ0, after a goal by Diego Lugano, and finished with ten men after Randall Azofeifa was sent off. In the second leg, played at the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo, Sebastián Abreu put Uruguay ahead twenty minutes from time, and although Walter Centeno equalised, the 1âÂÂ1 draw sent Uruguay to the World Cup finals, 2âÂÂ1 on aggregate.
After failing to qualify, the team began a new era, with the young talent of players such as Azofeifa, Keylor Navas, Cristian Bolaños, Michael Barrantes and Joel Campbell. Rónald González was the interim coach before Ricardo La Volpe was appointed in September 2010. He lasted only ten months before being replaced by the Colombian, Jorge Luis Pinto, in his second spell in charge. During this period, Costa Rica played many friendlies against the top-ranked teams in the world, including the world champion Spain, most of them in the new national stadium, the Estadio Nacional, which was opened in 2011.
The Ticos' 2014 World Cup campaign began with a 2âÂÂ2 draw against El Salvador in the third round of the qualifiers. They followed this with a 4âÂÂ0 win over Guyana with a hat-trick by ÃÂlvaro SaborÃÂo. Two defeats to Mexico put the Ticos one defeat away from elimination, but they resurrected their campaign with a 1âÂÂ0 win against El Salvador, with the only goal scored by José Miguel Cubero. They clinched a final round berth with a 7âÂÂ0 win over Guyana, with goals scored by Randall Brenes, SaborÃÂo, Cristian Bolaños, Celso Borges and Cristian Gamboa.
The fourth round began with a 2âÂÂ2 draw against Panama. In March, Costa Rica lost 1âÂÂ0 against the United States in Denver, and launched an unsuccessful appeal against the match because of inclement weather. Costa Rica again fell 1âÂÂ0 to the United States in the Gold Cup that June. Costa Rica then won 2âÂÂ0 against Jamaica, beat Honduras 1âÂÂ0 against, drew 0âÂÂ0 at the Azteca against Mexico and won at home 2âÂÂ0 against Panama. In September, they won 3âÂÂ1 against the United States in San José.
On 10 September 2013, Costa Rica drew 1âÂÂ1 with Jamaica, thanks to a goal from Brenes, to qualify with two games to spare. After a 1âÂÂ0 loss at Honduras and 2âÂÂ1 win over Mexico in October, Costa Rica finished second in the table, behind the United States.
Costa Rica were drawn in finals Group D against three previous tournament winners â Italy, England and Uruguay â and were given odds of 2500âÂÂ1 to win the tournament. However, they beat Uruguay and Italy and drew 0âÂÂ0 with England to finish top of the group and qualify for the knockout stage.
In the second round, they beat Greece 5âÂÂ3 on penalties after a 1âÂÂ1 draw, seeing them through to the quarter-finals for the first time. There, they held the Netherlands to a 0âÂÂ0 draw after extra time, before losing 4âÂÂ3 on penalties. Costa Rica rose 12 places to 16th in the FIFA World Rankings. Former player Rónald González cited their long-term progress since 2007 as the reason for their achievement.
The Ticos' qualification for the 2018 World Cup started with a bye to the fourth qualifying round, where they won five games and drew one, winning their group. In the final round, they finished second behind Mexico to qualify automatically, winning four matches, drawing four and losing two.
Costa Rica were drawn in Group E alongside Brazil, Switzerland and Serbia. Many key players from 2014 remained in the squad, but they made a disappointing exit at the group stage. Costa Rica lost their first two games, against Serbia and Brazil, without scoring, but drew 2âÂÂ2 with Switzerland in their last match after equalising in injury time.
The Ticos' qualification for the 2022 World Cup started with a bye to the final qualifying round. They finished fourth behind the United States to advance to inter-confederation play-offs winning seven matches, drawing four and losing three. In the inter-confederation play-offs in Al Rayyan, Qatar, Costa Rica won the match 1âÂÂ0 against New Zealand and qualified for the World Cup.
On November 23, 2022, Costa Rica lost 7âÂÂ0 against Spain, the biggest World Cup loss since 2010. This match also tied for their worst defeat in professional football with a match against Mexico, which ended with Mexico 7âÂÂ0 Costa Rica in Mexico City on 17 August 1975. They came back to defeat Japan in the next game, and after falling behind to Germany in the first half in the final group stage match, they scored two second half goals against to briefly move into position to advance to the knockout rounds in the live standings. However, Germany scored three late goals and eliminated Costa Rica. For a couple of minutes Costa Rica and Japan were making history, with results that would've eliminated both Spain and Germany, two powerhouses of international football. Nevertheless, Costa Rica were bested by Germany's experience in the international stage.
In June 2024, Costa Rica began its qualifying campaign, against Saint Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, Bahamas and Trinidad and Tobago, winning all 4 games and finishing in first place. Because the tournament was being played at North America, United States, Mexico and Canada qualified automatically as co-hosts, leaving 3 spots for more CONCACAF countries to qualify.
In the second round, they were placed in Group C, along with Haiti, Honduras and Nicaragua. Costa Rica got a draw in its first match 1âÂÂ1 against Nicaragua, a 3âÂÂ3 draw at home against Haiti and getting a 0âÂÂ0 draw against Honduras. Costa Rica had to won all matches remaining if they were to finish first. The "Ticos" got their first win, 4âÂÂ1 at home against Nicaragua, but at the next match, they got defeated 1âÂÂ0 against Haiti. By this point, Costa Rica had 6 points, and needed to win against Honduras while hoping Haiti would lose or draw against Nicaragua to finish first. On the final matchday, Nicaragua lost to Haiti 2âÂÂ0, and the match between Costa Rica and Honduras finished 0âÂÂ0. With this result, Haiti qualified for the World Cup in the first time since 1974, while both Costa Rica and Honduras were eliminated, this was Costa Rica's first failed qualification campaign since 2010.
Shortly after, the FCRF announced that Miguel Herrera, the head coach had been sacked for not being able to qualify for the World Cup. The fans were angry with both the players and the coach for not qualifying for the "easiest qualification competition".
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Estadio Nacional is the home stadium of the Costa Rica national team since its opening on 10 January 2011 This venue hosts their friendly matches as well as the World Cup qualifying matches against CONCACAF rivals. Previous matches were played in Estadio Ricardo Saprissa or in Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto.
Costa Rica traditionally wears a red jersey with blue shorts and white socks. Their away kit historically was a Juventus-style black and white striped jersey with white shorts and white or black socks, due to these colors being the ones of CS La Libertad, one of the oldest clubs in Costa Rica. In the 1990 FIFA World Cup, the striped kit was used for two matches due to its resemblance to the home kit of FK Partizan of which Bora Milutinovic, then-coach of Costa Rica, was a fan. However, after 1997, the striped kit was replaced by a white kit. In 2015, Boston-based sportswear company New Balance became the provider of the national team, after taking over for Italian company Lotto. Since 2023, Adidas is the kit provider for the national team.
The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
The following players were called up to the squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Haiti and Honduras on 13 and 18 November 2025. <br>Caps and goals correct as of 18 November 2025, after the match against Honduras.
The following players have been called up within the last twelve months.
<sup>INJ</sup> Withdrew due to injury.<br> <sup>RET</sup> Retired from the national team.<br> <sup>ILL</sup> Withdrew due to illness.<br> <sup>PRE</sup> Preliminary squad.<br> <sup>WD</sup> Withdrew for personal reasons.<br>
The following table shows Costa Rica's all-time international record, correct as of 31 March 2025.
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Only official honours are included, according to FIFA statutes (competitions organized/recognized by FIFA or an affiliated confederation).
Last update was on 27 May 2021 Source:
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