JAKARTA - Spain will meet Costa Rica in the Qatar 2022 World Cup Group E match at the Al Thumama Stadium, Wednesday, November 23 at 23.00 WIB.
La Furia Roja is facing the most difficult times since lifting their first World Cup trophy in 2010 in South Africa. Meanwhile, Costa Rica made it to the quarter-finals of the 2014 edition in Brazil, which was their best performance in the history of the competition.
When they won the World Cup in Africa, Spain was at the peak of its golden generation. In that period, they also won back-to-back European Cups in 2008 and 2012.
However, difficult times for Spain then came after. One of them is that they have to accept the fact that they were immediately eliminated in the group stage on their way to Brazil.
At that time they swallowed two defeats and only got one win. Their journey to the next World Cup in Russia 2018, also faltered in the last 16 after losing on penalties against the hosts.
After that, Spain bounced back and made their run a little more impressive when they appeared at the Euros last year. In that competition, they reached the semifinals before being stopped by Italy.
Now Luis Enrique's men came to Qatar with a capital of a 3-1 victory over Jordan on Thursday midweek. It was their first game since ending their UEFA Nations League campaign with a 1-0 win over Portugal in late September.
In that competition, Spain finished top of Group 2 of League A to advance to the semifinals. Meanwhile, they also come into this year's World Cup having topped Group B, picking up 19 points from eight games.
On the other hand, Costa Rica is present at this biggest event with less capital. They have always been eliminated in the group stage of the tournament in 2002, 2006, and 2018.
As for Brazil 2014, they advanced to the quarter-finals. They then topped Group D above Uruguay, Italy, and England before beating Greece on penalties in the first knockout round.
Los Ticos in high confidence come to Qatar after recording a 2-0 win over Nigeria in their last friendly on November 11.
Moreover, they have also lost just one of their last 13 matches in all competitions. For that, Spain needs to be careful if they don't want to have bad luck in the first group match.
VOIR éGALEMENT:
Estimated Formation:
Spain (4-3-3): Simon; Carvajal, Laporte, P Torres, Alba; Pedri, Busquets, Gavi; F Torres, Morata, Fati.
Costa Rica (4-3-3): Navas; C Martinez, Calvo, Duarte, Oviedo; Tejeda, Bennette, G Torres; Borges, Contreras, Campbell.
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