Costa Rica were drawn in England’s group eight years ago, but how far did they make it at the 2014 World Cup?
This time around, they have been drawn in another tough pool, alongside Spain, Germany and Japan in Group E.
Just as they were in 2014, Costa Rica will likely be written off by many pundits and expected to finish bottom.
But their run in Brazil should provide inspiration and confidence and we have decided to revisit it ahead of Qatar…
How far did Costa Rica make it at the 2014 World Cup?
Back in 2014, Costa Rica were handed arguably an even harder group, drawn alongside Italy and Uruguay as well as Roy Hodgson’s Three Lions.
They set the tone for what was to come by stunning Luis Suarez and co 3-1 in the opening round of matches.
Edinson Cavani opened the scoring, but goals from Joel Campbell, Oscar Duarte and Marcos Urena turned it around.
Then, Italy were defeated 1-0 via a goal from Bryan Ruiz, ensuring qualification with a game to spare.
The game with England was a damp squib, ending 0-0 as Hodgson made changes and Costa Rica saved themselves for the knockout rounds.
Costa Rica topped the group with seven points, which set up a clash with Greece in the Round of 16 in Sao Paulo.
Ruiz scored again to put his nation on the brink of the last eight, before former Arsenal defender Sokratis netted in second half stoppage time to force an extra 30 minutes.
Costa Rica kept their nerve in the penalty shootout, netting all five spot-kicks, while Theofanis Gekas missed, sending them into the quarter-finals.
It was there that they met Louis van Gaal’s Netherlands and once again, the match went through 120 minutes and to penalties.
Van Gaal grabbed the headlines by substituting goalkeeper Tim Krul onto the pitch just before the end of extra time, because of his penalty saving prowess.
It was a bold move but it did the trick, with Krul saving from Ruiz and Michael Umana to end Costa Rica’s epic run at the quarter-final stage.
What a story it was, and the underdogs came within a penalty shootout of the last four in one of the great modern tales in World Cup history.
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