The Brazilians will be looking to get their team in order after a disappointing 1-1 draw with Switzerland in the World Cup when they take on Costa Rica on Friday June 22nd at 8am Eastern time in St Petersburg, Russia. Neymar, Marcelo, Firmino and co. will look to overwhelm Costa Rican Goaltender Keylor Navas and the rest of the Costa Ricans thick defense, who led them to the first place in their CONCACAF qualifying group. Historically, Brazil has been dominant against Costa Rica, going 9-0-1 dating back to 1956. The most recent game was in 2015, which Brazil won by a score of 1-0. Odds for this game favor Brazil; for more information on open lines, take a look at our World Cup Betting odds.
Brazil
For now, Brazil's World Cup legacy is intact as the greatest football nation on the planet, but that may not be the case at the end of this summer. That is because Germany comes into this year's tournament with a chance to tie Brazil for the most World Cup victories for a single country with five. Fortunately for Brazil, Germany had an even more disappointing first game in the World Cup when they lost to Mexico. Despite Brazil's first game setback, this year's Brazilian squad is built to win. They still looked dominant in the first half of their opening game, firing on all cylinders before letting their guards down in the second. They will be sure not to do the same for this match against a determined Costa Rica, who now face an uphill battle after the loss to Serbia.
Costa Rica
Costa Rica's frustration with their loss to Serbia on Sunday was palatable. They played the Serbians very close, equalizing them in shots and shots on target, while the possession numbers were almost equal (53% to 47%, favoring Los Ticos) Costa Rica has been an emerging force in world football for the last couple of decades, and this World Cup is a chance to let the world know that they should be taken seriously. After years of obscurity, they earned World Cup berths in 1990, 2002, and 2006. The 1990 team advanced out of the group stage by beating Scotland and Sweden but lost in the round of 16 to the former Czechoslovakia. At the last World Cup, they had their best showing ever, advancing to the Quarter finals only to lose in penalty kicks to the Netherlands. In the qualifiers for Russia 2018, Costa Rica went undefeated 5-1-0 and qualified for a second consecutive World Cup. Friday's game against Brazil is a must win if they are hoping to advance past the group stage this time around.
Match Overview
Expect Brazil to come out on top of this game, as they have a much more complete roster and are favorites to come out on top of this group. Any hope Costa Rica has lies in their Goaltender and Centre-backs, who will be key in this matchup. Ticos Kendall Waston, Giancarlo Gonzalez and Johnny Acosta will do their best to filter what shot opportunities Brazil has against Navas. If Navas can see the balls coming in and not have to engage in much lateral movement in front of his cage, Costa Rica has at least a shot at keeping the score low and hoping for a draw. If not, this will be an easy win for Brazil.
