The Sele overcame St. Kitts and Nevis to take first place in Group B in World Cup qualifying.
The selection of Costa Ricaled by Argentine Gustavo Alfaro, beat a weak squad of Saint Kitts and Nevis at the beginning of the play off heading to 2026 World Cup.
Two goals from midfielder Orlando Galo in the 40th and 50th minutes, a goal from Josimar Alcócer in the 82nd minute and another from debutant Andy Rojas in the 84th minute gave the Costa Rica a victory that had to be built with patience against a rival that locked itself in its own field and that at times went too far in tough play.
The unstoppable rain that fell throughout Thursday in San José ended up making it difficult to transport the ball to the San José National Stadium for a Costa Rica that in the first period looked imprecise and even hasty in the search to penetrate the reinforced defense of Saint Kitts and Nevis.
Francisco Calvo was close to opening the scoring with a header to the horizontal and minutes later Manfred Ugalde tested the resistance of goalkeeper Julani Archibald with a shot from outside the area, in what were the two clearest approaches of Costa Rica in the first half hour of play.
After unsuccessfully sending numerous crosses into the rival area, one of them finally found the head of holding midfielder Orlando Galo, who took advantage of a poor start by Archibald to open the scoring in the 40th minute.
Galo, the unexpected scorer, appeared again in the 50th minute to make it 2-0 with a left footed shot from outside the area after receiving a pass from Ugalde.
With the 2-0 in favor plus the physical wear and tear of the rival, Costa Rica He completely dominated the match and had several chances such as a shot from Ugalde from the horizontal and a cross shot from Álvaro Zamora that barely escaped.
The changes gave intensity to the attack of Costa Rica and in just two minutes he scored two goals. In the 82nd minute, goalkeeper Archibald crashed the ball into the body of Josimar Alcócer, who only had to push the ball into the net. And in the 84th minute, the young debutant Andy Rojas entered the area quickly and made it 4-0 with a low shot.
At the close of the commitment Costa Rica could have scored another goal against an opponent who looked tired and gave up a lot of space in the last minutes
With United States, Mexico and Canada as host countries of the World Cup 2026the area of the Concacaf It uses a new knockout format with a first phase of 6 groups of 5 teams each. The first two places in each bracket will advance to another group stage that will distribute 3 direct tickets to the world.
In the first phase, in which all teams will play only 4 games, Costa Rica It is located in Group B along with Bahamas, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Trinidad and Tobago.
This group began action with a 2-2 draw between Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada on Wednesday.
Costa Rica They lead the group with 3 points and next Sunday they will visit Grenada, while on Saturday the Bahamas will host Trinidad and Tobago.
