Costa Rica vs Curacao - prediction, team news, lineups

Meeting for the 3rd clip successful their history, Curacao volition question to Costa Rica connected Thursday successful the opening matchday of Group A enactment for some sides astatine the CONCACAF Nations League.

In 2024-25, the Central Americans were knocked retired of this tourney successful the quarter-finals by Panama, portion Curacao topped their League B radical connected that juncture to instrumentality to the apical flight.

Match preview

After failing to suffice for a 4th consecutive World Cup this year, Costa Rica volition anticipation to rebuild their programme with a caller antheral astatine the helm.

Fernando Batista replaces Miguel Herrera arsenic manager, and the erstwhile Venezuela brag called up implicit a twelve players who are 25 years of property oregon younger for this window.

The 2014 World Cup quarter-finalists participate this brushwood connected a three-match losing run, conceding a combined 11 goals implicit that agelong portion netting lone once.

Meanwhile, they volition effort to extremity a six-match winless tally internationally connected Thursday, successful what volition beryllium their archetypal competitory crippled of 2026.

Costa Rica person ne'er mislaid their opening Nations League radical fixture earlier and tin agelong their unbeaten tally successful radical enactment to 4 matches connected Thursday, going undefeated successful this signifier backmost successful 2024-25.

Los Ticos person won 3 of their past 4 Nations League location encounters, without conceding a extremity successful those 3 wins.

Months aft their historical archetypal World Cup appearance, we volition soon observe conscionable however acold the Curacao men’s programme has grown since then.

Dick Advocaat led them into the finals this past summer, and the seasoned Dutch manager guided them to a Nations League promotion successful 2024-25, arsenic his squad finished with 13 points to apical their group.

On Thursday they tin assertion their archetypal distant triumph successful League A since edging Honduras 2-1 successful the radical signifier successful June of 2022.

That was the past clip they triumphed implicit a Central American side, with Curacao losing those past 2 outings against that region.

The Caribbean squad volition participate this contention connected a three-match winless run, with conscionable 1 extremity scored implicit that stretch.

While they are winless against Costa Rica, the Blue Wave person ne'er mislaid a lucifer played successful the latter’s location country, drafting them 0-0 erstwhile they met successful the 2019 Nations League radical phase.

Costa Rica Form (all competitions):

Curacao Form (all competitions):

Team News

For this window, Batista did not prime Shawn Johnson to the Costa Rican broadside arsenic helium is dealing with a knock, portion Orlando Galo is successful the squad contempt antecedently sustaining a limb injury.

Manfred Ugalde was besides near disconnected the squad contempt scoring 11 goals for Los Ticos, with Francisco Calvo and Jeyland Mitchell expected to anchor the backline and Patrick Sequeira the apt first-choice goalkeeper.

At Curacao, Advocaat chose 3 players without a azygous planetary headdress for these upcoming fixtures, including Nigel Thomas, Kyano Penso and Kiyani Zeggen.

Eloy Room, 1 of the large stories astatine the World Cup, is tied with Leandro Bacuna for the astir all-time caps for the nationalist squad (75), portion Kenji Gorre tin determination into ninth successful goals for this programme with his adjacent one.

Costa Rica imaginable starting lineup:

Sequeira; Molina, Mitchell, Calvo, Araya; Murillo; Flores, Galo, Soto, Alocer; Sinclair

Curacao imaginable starting lineup:

Room; Brenet, Gaari, Obispo, Floranus, Carolina; Chong, L. Bacuna, Antonisse; Margaritha, J. Bacuna

We say: Costa Rica 1-0 Curacao

Unlike successful past years, galore Costa Ricans volition beryllium warring to gain their spot connected this team, and that motivation, on with their acquisition successful large CONCACAF tournaments, should propel them to a constrictive triumph against a Curacao broadside that are getting up determination successful age.