Unforgettable Underdog World Cup Runs: Costa Rica 2014
- therookiereporters
- 11 minutes ago
- 4 min read
The 2014 World Cup in Brazil was the dawn of new talents of the sport and unsung heroes of nations. In a tournament that was dominated by German discipline, an unexpected nation rose from very challenging odds: Costa Rica. Let’s have a look at Los Ticos’ 2014 journey!
Costa Rica is one of the Central America countries that binds North America and South America together, standing in the middle of the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. They have been FIFA members since 1927 and also founding members of the CONCACAF (The Confederation of North, Central and Caribbean Association Football). Los Ticos made their first World Cup appearance in 1990, making it to the Round of 16. Before 2014, they also appeared in 2002 and 2006 World Cups, but they couldn’t go any further than the group stage. In order to qualify for the 2014 World Cup, they had to finish in top 3 in the same qualifying group with the likes of the USA, Mexico, Honduras. They were not considered favourites to qualify, but Jorge Luis Pinto’s men have beaten the odds and finished the group in second place behind USA to secure their qualification.
However, their challenges leveled up immensely in the group stage. Costa Rica has been drawn into Group D, to the group of death, with England and previous World Cup winners, Uruguay and Italy. Everyone was expecting them to finish dead last in such a group, however, Costa Rica had other plans. In the opening game of the group, Los Ticos faced Uruguay of Suárez, Cavani and Forlán. Despite falling back with a penalty from Edinson Cavani, Costa Rica found two rapid goals in the second half with Campbell and Duarte to take the lead. Ureña pulled the plug of Uruguay after turning his run through the defence to a goal and Los Ticos started the tournament with an unexpected 3-1 win. Next up was Cesare Prandelli’s Gli Azzurri. Despite being in control most of the time, Italians couldn’t take their chances and almost caused a penalty in their box, but Costa Ricans didn’t let these mistakes go unpunished. Towards the end of the first half, Bryan Ruiz’s header passed Buffon and the goal line to give Los Ticos the lead. They have fended off the Italians successfully to guarantee their spot in the Round of 16. And in the last game of the group stage, Costa Rica held on to a goalless draw against an already eliminated Three Lions and so they have unexpectedly topped the group of death, going into the Knockout Stages.
After winning the group of death and going up against some of the best in the world, facing Greece may not sound like a challenge in the Round of 16. However, one should never underestimate the magic of the World Cup. As expected this time, Los Ticos broke the deadlock in the 52nd minute with Bryan Ruiz, taking a peek at the quarter-finals. But Greece wasn’t gonna go down without a fight. With Costa Rica going one man down in the 66th minute, the momentum shifted towards the Mediterranean team. Despite giving their best to fend Greece off, Costa Rica couldn’t prevent Sokratis from scoring the equaliser in the stoppage time and the game went to extra time. In the next 30 minutes, Greece found opportunities with Kostas Mitroglu, but got denied by the rising Keylor Navas. Penalties were going to decide the quarter-finalist. Los Ticos ended up heading towards their first quarter-finals appearance, after Gekas missed Greece’s 4th penalty and Umaña didn’t make a mistake in the next one.
In the stage, where no more easy teams left to play, Costa Rica had to go up against another European giant, Netherlands. The Dutch team led by Louis van Gaal has made some scary impressions in the tournament, especially after beating the reigning world champions Spain 5-1. Netherlands were considered heavy favourites and they took control of the game from the start to the finish. However, the Costa Rican goal was protected by the brick wall of Keylor Navas. He put in a world class performance, making save after save, keeping the dreams of the impossible alive for the entire 120 minutes. But despite his amazing performance, this match was going to go down in history with an unsung hero. The Netherlands haven’t shown all the cards up in their sleeve yet and they were going to play the most unexpected one. Right before the penalties, Louis van Gaal used his last substitution to replace the goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen with their second goalie Tim Krul, no injuries involved. In the penalties, Krul ended up making 2 saves, finishing Costa Rica’s dream run in the quarter-finals. The Dutch keeper revealed years later that only he, van Gaal and the team's goalkeeper coach knew about the unexpected move, which seemed crystal clear by the frustrated reactions of Cillessen. Despite the devastating way they’ve been knocked out of the tournament, the defiant Los Ticos earned the respect of football fans for turning impossible odds into reality.
In the end, Costa Rica made a historic World Cup run in Brazil. After 2014, they showed up in 2 more consecutive World Cups in 2018 and 2022, but those runs were nowhere near to be like Brazil. This year, their consecutive streak is broken and they won’t be participating in the 2026 World Cup, but their defiant journey in 2014 will always remain in the magical history of the beautiful game.
Article written by Emre Albas © Emre Albas 2026
