Costa Rica national football team

Costa Rica
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)Los Ticos (The Ticos)
La Sele (The Selection)
La Tricolor (The Tricolor)
Los Diablos Rojos (The Red Devils)
AssociationFederación Costarricense de Fútbol (FCRF)[1]
ConfederationCONCACAF (North America)
Sub-confederationUNCAF (Central America)
Head coachClaudio Vivas (Interim)
CaptainFrancisco Calvo
Most capsCelso Borges (163)
Top scorerRolando Fonseca (47)
Home stadiumEstadio Nacional
FIFA codeCRC
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 54 Steady (19 December 2024)[2]
Highest13 (February–March 2015)
Lowest93 (July 1996)
First international
 Costa Rica 7–0 El Salvador 
(Guatemala City, Guatemala; 14 September 1921)
Biggest win
 Costa Rica 12–0 Puerto Rico 
(Barranquilla, Colombia; 10 December 1946)
Biggest defeat
 Mexico 7–0 Costa Rica 
(Mexico City, Mexico; 17 August 1975)
 Spain 7–0 Costa Rica 
(Doha, Qatar; 23 November 2022)
World Cup
Appearances6 (first in 1990)
Best resultQuarter-finals (2014)
CONCACAF Championship / Gold Cup
Appearances22 (first in 1963)
Best resultChampions (1963, 1969, 1989)
Nations League Finals
Appearances1 (first in 2021)
Best resultFourth place (2021)
Copa América
Appearances6 (first in 1997)
Best resultQuarter-finals (2001, 2004)
Websitefcrf.cr/sele-mayor

The Costa Rica national football team (Spanish: Selección de fútbol de Costa Rica) represents Costa Rica in men's international football. The national team is administered by the Costa Rican Football Federation (FEDEFUTBOL), the governing body for football in Costa Rica. It has been a member of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) since 1927, 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 from the region of Central America, winning three CONCACAF Championships (1963, 1969, 1989) and leading the Copa Centroamericana tournament with four championships up until 2017, when it was absorbed into the CONCACAF Nations League. Costa Rica is the only national team in Central America to have played in six 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 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 5–3 via a penalty shoot-out after a 1–1 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 (3–4) after a scoreless draw on 5 July.[4][5] Both their 2018 and 2022 World Cup campaigns ended in a fourth place group stage exit, with their only points coming from a 2–2 draw against Switzerland in 2018 and a 1–0 win over Japan in 2022.

  1. ^ Araya, José Fernando (24 November 2021). "Esta es la nueva imagen de la Federación Costarricense de Fútbol | Teletica". Teletica (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 25 November 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  2. ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's World Ranking". FIFA. 19 December 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  3. ^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 25 December 2024. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
  4. ^ Campomar, Andreas (4 July 2014). "The Hopes of Central America Rest on a Perpetual Underdog : World Cup 2014: Costa Rica Could Learn From Uruguay's Example". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  5. ^ "When Saturday Comes – Costa Rica goes crazy for the "team of migrants"". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 9 July 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.

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