Costa Rica completed a 32-nation World Cup lineup by beating New Zealand 1-0 in an intercontinental playoff on Tuesday.
Leaning heavily on its core of veterans, Costa Rica defended a third-minute goal from Joel Campbell and relied on saves from goalkeeper and captain Keylor Navas.
New Zealand rallied from the early setback to dominate possession and create more and better scoring chances, even after going down to 10 men for the last quarter of the match.
COSTA RICA ARE GOING TO THE WORLD CUP 🇨🇷❗️
They defeat New Zealand to win the CONCACAF/OFC Playoff 👏 pic.twitter.com/CADUiWLLeK
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) June 14, 2022
Joel Campbell scores a massive goal for Costa Rica two minutes into the World Cup playoff 🔑
(via @FOXSoccer) pic.twitter.com/clvfB0DqKm
— B/R Football (@brfootball) June 14, 2022