Costa Rica has won its first two games in the first phase of the Concacaf qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. EFE/ Jeffrey Arguedas
Photo: EFE – Jeffrey Arguedas
The Costa Rican team, Colombia’s rival in the next Copa América, fulfilled the predictions this Sunday and beat Granada 3-0, a result that allows it to lead group B and get closer with six points out of six possible to the classification the next phase of the Concacaf qualifier for the 2026 World Cup.
The goals from Manfred Ugalde in the 9th minute, from Álvaro Zamora, in the 34th minute, and from Gerald Taylor in the 70th minute, sealed the victory of a Costa Rica superior to the rival and that closed the first two days of Group B with a perfect record of six points. 7 goals for and none against.
Costa Rica leads the group with six units, followed by Trinidad and Tobago (4), Grenada (1), Bahamas (0) and Saint Kitts and Nevis (0). In this stage each team will play four games (two at home and two away). The first two will qualify for the next group round that will grant three tickets to the World Cup and two play-offs.
Under heavy weather and a field in poor condition, the Costa Rican team, led by Argentine coach Gustavo Alfaro, knew how to control the match and hit at accurate moments with goals that gave them peace of mind.
In the 9th minute, the English Nottingham Forest midfielder Brandon Aguilera put a filtered pass into the area that the Russian Spartak Moscow attacker Manfred Ugalde took advantage of to open the account with a touch over goalkeeper Jason Belfon’s bail.
The Central American team continued to dominate and in the 34th minute they extended the lead when Ugalde assisted with a header to Álvaro Zamora, who scored the goal helped by a deflection of the ball by an opponent.
Costa Rica, which has faced the start of the tie with many young players, made it 0-3 in a good collective play that ended with a pass from Ugalde to full-back Gerald Taylor, who defined forcefully.
An example of the youth of the Costa Rican team is that the three scorers of this day scored their first goal in qualifying, and two of them, Zamora and Taylor, scored their first goal with the senior team.
The Costa Rican team will face Colombia on June 28, on the second date of Group C of the Copa América, which will take place in the United States. The Concacaf qualifying round will resume until June 2025 with the last two days of the first phase.
