Christian Bolaños and Kendall Waston are so close to the 2018 FIFA World Cup they can almost taste it. And they could get even closer over the next week with Costa Rica set to take on the United States (Friday at 3:55 p.m. PT – Red Bull Arena) and Mexico (Tuesday, September 5 at 7 p.m. PT – National Stadium of Costa Rica) in a pair of massive CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers.
Unless you're playing in the World Cup itself, the games don't get much bigger than this.
Here’s where things currently stand:
<strong>PTS</strong> |
<strong>W</strong> |
<strong>L</strong> |
<strong>D</strong> |
<strong>GF</strong> |
<strong>GA</strong> |
<strong>GD</strong> |
|
<strong>Mexico</strong> |
<p>14</p> |
<p>4</p> |
<p>0</p> |
<p>2</p> |
<p>9</p> |
<p>2</p> |
<p>+7</p> |
<strong>Costa Rica</strong> |
<p>11</p> |
<p>3</p> |
<p>1</p> |
<p>2</p> |
<p>9</p> |
<p>4</p> |
<p>+5</p> |
<strong>United States</strong> |
<p>8</p> |
<p>2</p> |
<p>2</p> |
<p>2</p> |
<p>11</p> |
<p>8</p> |
<p>+3</p> |
<strong>Panama </strong> |
<p>7</p> |
<p>1</p> |
<p>1</p> |
<p>4</p> |
<p>4</p> |
<p>4</p> |
<p>0</p> |
<strong>Honduras</strong> |
<p>5</p> |
<p>1</p> |
<p>3</p> |
<p>2</p> |
<p>6</p> |
<p>14</p> |
<p>-8</p> |
<strong>Trinidad & Tobago</strong> |
<p>3</p> |
<p>1</p> |
<p>5</p> |
<p>0</p> |
<p>3</p> |
<p>10</p> |
<p>-7</p> |
Each team has four matches remaining.
The top three teams will advance to the 2018 FIFA World Cup, while the fourth-place team will advance to an inter-confederation playoff for the final berth.
As it stands, Costa Rica have a 94 per cent chance of advancing, according to ESPN’s Soccer Power Index. If they can get a result against the U.S. on Friday, they’d all but secure their second straight World Cup appearance (though crazier things have happened).
It certainly won’t be easy, though. The Ticos have never won a Hexagonal match on American soil since the format was first implemented in 1998.
Can they reverse their fortunes on Friday?
COSTA RICA'S REMAINING WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS
- Friday, September 1 vs. U.S. – Red Bull Arena
- Tuesday, September 5 vs. Mexico – National Stadium of Costa Rica
- Friday, October 6 vs. Honduras – National Stadium of Costa Rica
- Tuesday, October 10 vs. Panama – Estadio Rommel Fernández
