Spain v Costa Rica World Cup Group E Betting Guide

The Teams’ Routes to the World Cup

Spain

Nicknamed ‘La Furia Roja’, translated as ‘The Red Fury’, Spain found themselves drawn into Group B of the UEFA World Cup qualification round. Teams within their group included Sweden, Greece, Georgia and Kosovo. The Spanish came out and topped the group winning 6 games, drawing 1 and losing 1 where they scored a total of 15 goals while conceding 5. Their only loss was away to Sweden 2 – 1 and overall Ferran Torres was Spain’s top goal-scorer during the group qualification stage with 4 goals.  

Costa Rica

The Costa Ricans qualified the hard way to reach the 2022 World Cup finals. Due to their top five ranking in the region of the Confederation of North, Central and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) they immediately qualified for the third-round qualification group stage. Consisting of eight teams that had to play each other home and away a total of 14 games were played by each team to determine qualification. Costa Rica won 7, drew 4 and lost 3 leaving them in 4th place in the group. This was not enough to automatically qualify from the group so they had to win an inter-confederation play-off against New Zealand. Costa Rica won the match 1 – 0 and secured their ticket to the World Cup finals.

This game will be the 4th time the two teams have met with the prior three ending in 2 wins for Spain a draw and a loss. The last time they met was in a friendly match in June 2015 where the home team Spain won 2 – 1.

Current Odds at mr.play

You can try our ‘MultiCombo’ betting markets right here at mr.play. Take a look at our multigoal options where you can bet on up to 24 outcomes. In doing so you can bet on the winning team or the result being a draw and the total number of goals that will be scored by the final whistle. Ignoring the winning team or if the game ends in a draw, predict the half-time score and the full-time score. You can select from 12 different options for every game that will be played in the 2022 World Cup!

Team Overviews & Player Profiles

Spain

Luis Enrique is considered one of the best managers in the world. He took charge of the Spanish national team in 2019 and has since overseen 32 games winning 17, drawing 12 and losing 3 to provide a win ratio of 53.13%. With Spain, he has taken them to the Euro 2020 semi-final and runners-up in the 2020/2021 Nations League. His management style has his teams playing incisive, direct and counter-attacking football making Spain a force to be reckoned with at the 2022 World Cup. Before his national team appointment, he managed Barcelona and he famously won the treble of La Liga, Copa del Rey and UEFA Champions League in the 2014/2015 season.

Luis Enrique has a great right-hand man to lead the players on the pitch. Sergio Busquets is the captain of Spain and also Barcelona. At 34 years old, Qatar may well be his last World Cup appearance. Considered one of the greatest holding midfielders in the world Busquets can control the flow of a game with his positioning and reading of the game coupled with his playmaking. With Spain, he was part of the squad that won the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 and was voted Nations League 2021 player of the tournament for his national team as they finished runners-up. With Barcelona, he has won La Liga on numerous occasions and is a 3-time Champions League winner. Now with 137 international caps scoring 2 goals, he is the third most capped Spanish international of all time, with only Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos gaining more appearances.

Costa Rica

The man taking charge of the Costa Rica team for the 2022 World Cup is Luis Fernando Suárez. He is a Colombian who enjoyed his professional playing career in his home country for Atlético Nacional and Deportivo Pereira. He is a vastly experienced international manager having previously taken charge of Honduras and Ecuador. It was with Ecuador that he gained hero status leading them to the second round of the 2006 World Cup. He has been in charge of Costa Rica since 2021, managing 21 games, winning 12, drawing 4 and losing 5 giving him a win percentage of 57.14%.

A man in the twilight years of his career and somebody who Luis Fernando Suárez will be leaning on for his experience on and off the pitch at the 2022 World Cup is Costa Rica captain Bryan Ruiz. Currently playing for Alajuelense in the Costa Rican Primera División he has huge experience playing professional club football in the Brazilian, Portuguese, Dutch, English and Belgian top flights. He is the only Central American player to play in the UEFA Champions League, Europa League and the CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores. He has also represented Costa Rica in the 2014 and 2018 World Cup. In the 2014 World Cup, he scored a famous goal to beat giants Italy and help Costa Rica qualify for the round of 16. With all his experience he is 2nd most capped Costa Rican player and 4th highest goal-scorer, playing as a left-sided attacking midfielder or second striker.

A True Test for the Costa Ricans

The game between Spain versus Costa Rica holds no barriers, particularly language as the two teams will at least be level on speaking terms. Spain will be the heavy favourites to win this opening fixture having won their World Cup qualification group and considering their world ranking. Costa Rica struggled to reach Qatar by eventually winning an inter-continental play-off against Peru. Whatever the result there are hundreds of betting outcomes available to choose from right here at mr.play.