Map of the countries that have played at least one match against Costa Rica so far in the decade:
Costa Rica
Teams that have already faced Costa Rica
Teams that are scheduled to face Costa Rica in the future
Note: Non-FIFA teams are not included
Results
Key
Win
Draw
Defeat
2020
Rónald González faced strong criticism for the team's lackluster performance during the year
Costa Rica began the decade with the struggles they were facing since their lackluster performance at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. 2020 began with a defeat against the United States in a friendly.[4] A few days later, Teletica revealed that Costa Rica would face Greece and El Salvador in the United States the next month.[5] The match against El Salvador was cancelled and replaced with a friendly against Panama at the "Fello" Meza stadium, as it would have been the first time in 24 years that Costa Rica played a match in that stadium.[6] However, as coronavirus cases were surging, and its outbreak became a pandemic, both friendlies were cancelled.[7][8]
As international football activity resumed in October, Costa Rica scheduled two friendly matches at home against Panama, losing both and sparking criticism from Central American media.[9] A month later, Costa Rica drew against Qatar, scoring their goal of the year, as the team became winless in official matches in 2020.[10] The situation worsened after a last-minute defeat to the Basque Country. Writing for La República, Wálter Herrera pointed that Rónald González was the coach with the worst performance of the last twenty years.[11]
In 2021, Costa Rica resumed their winless streak under Rónald González as head coach. In March, a tour in Europe resulted in a draw against Bosnia and Herzegovina and a loss against Mexico.[12][13] Three months later, as part of the 2021 CONCACAF Nations League Finals, Costa Rica faced Mexico, but was again unable to win, as a scoreless draw was followed by a Mexican win on the penalty shoot-outs.[14] Costa Rica then played the third place play-off against rivalsHonduras, which ended in a 2–2, but frustrations increased as Honduras won the penalty shoot-outs, as Costa Rica ended the tournament in fourth place.[15]
Days later, González was sacked by the Costa Rican Football Federation as Costa Rica lost 4–0 in a friendly against the United States.[16] The Federation then signed Colombian coach Luis Fernando Suárez.[17] With Suárez, Costa Rica competed at the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup winning all three of their group stage matches after defeating Guadeloupe, Suriname, and Jamaica. This was the first time that Costa Rica won all nine points from the group stage at the Gold Cup.[18] However, Costa Rica lost against Canada at the quarter-finals.[19]
The Suárez era began sparking controversy as the third round of CONCACAF's qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. After a scoreless draw as visitors against Panama, Suárez decided to leave young forward Manfred Ugalde as a substitute in the following games at home against Mexico and Jamaica. Suárez claimed that his decision was due to Ugalde "losing most duels" against the Panamanians,[20] despite being contradicted by a Costa Rican statistician.[21] Bewildered by Suárez's declarations, Ugalde decided to quit the national team and not return as long as Suárez remained as coach, citing that he felt "exposed" and "disqualified" by the coach.[22] Days later, defender Giancarlo González also stepped aside from the national team, citing his desire to make way for younger players.[23] A month later, González stated that his decision was actually a definitive retirement from the national team, explaining that he did not feel in the condition to play for the team.[24]
Costa Rica had a complicated start of the qualifying process. During the first half of the CONCACAF qualification third round, Costa Rica stood fifth at only six points out of twenty-one, five points behind Panama, then the fourth-placed team.[25] The second half of the round began on 16 November 2021; that night, as Costa Rica was drawing a home match against Honduras, their gap against the Panamanians almost increased to seven points;[26] however, a late goal by Gerson Torres gave a crucial victory for the Ticos, which would start a comeback for the team that extended through 2022.[27][25][28]
.png)
.jpg)
_(cropped).jpg)
