FIFA World Cup Qualifying: How to watch Costa Rica vs New Zealand live in the inter-confederation playoff

Topics: TV Schedules, Costa Rica, New Zealand, FIFA World Cup Qualifying

Los Ticos will look to get the better of the All Whites in this one-off showdown in Doha, but it won't be an easy fixture for Navas and Co.

Preview

One inter-confederation playoff down, another to go. Only one ticket remains for this year's FIFA World Cup, with that slot set to be decided on Tuesday as Costa Rica prepare to lock horns with New Zealand in a do-or-die showdown at Al Rayyan Stadium in Doha.

Los Ticos typically would not have preferred to be here, having missed out on automatic qualification to Canada, the USA, and Mexico. However, the CONCACAF giants did not enjoy the qualifying round and at one point, the Central American nation looked like they were set to miss out on Qatar 2022 altogether.

In their first seven games, Luis Fernando Suarez's side only picked up one victory and boasted only six points. Costa Rican fans could thus be forgiven for fearing the worst at that time. However, to their relief, Navas and Co. were able to turn things around in the latter stage and pipped Panama to a playoff spot.

Out of their final seven games of the qualifying round, Costa Rica were able to pick up six victories, winning their last four in a row. That run saw the continental powerhouse pick up crucial victories over bitter rivals, including a 1-0 triumph over Panama in late January and wins over Canada and the USMNT in March.

Celso Borges scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Canada while Juan Pablo Vargas and Anthony Contreras got on the scoresheet in a 2-0 victory over the Stars and Stripes later that same month. New Zealand present a new test for the CONCACAF representative, but given their form, the Central Americans should enter this tie with confidence.

Their most recent outing was against Martinique in the CONCACAF Nations League, with former Arsenal attacker Joel Campbell scoring en route to a 2-0 triumph – Francisco Calvo grabbed the other goal. However, it should be noted that Costa Rica kicked off their CONCACAF Nations League campaign with a 2-0 defeat away to Panama, proving that Los Ticos are still capable of a few hiccups nonetheless.

Unsurprisingly, in a playoff that pits CONCACAF's fourth-best team against the best OFC team, it comes as no surprise to see New Zealand challenging Costa Rica for a spot at the upcoming FIFA World Cup. The All Whites coasted their way to the inter-confederation playoff, emerging out of the qualifying round with a perfect record.

In the Oceanian section of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers, the nations are split into two groups of four, with each team facing every other side in their group once in a round-robin format. Chris Wood and Co. won all three of those fixtures, scoring a whopping 12 goals while conceding only once in a 7-1 thrashing of New Caledonia.

Danny Hay's side topped their group and thus moved on to the semifinals where they faced Tahiti, who handed New Zealand a test as the continental giants won by a mere one goal to nil. After that came a showdown with Solomon Islands in the final, which was a walk in the park, as the OFC heavyweights thrashed their opposition 5-0.

The All Whites haven't qualified for the FIFA World Cup since South Africa 2010 and will thus be gunning for victory on Tuesday. Unfortunately, the preparatory friendly games did not go down well as they suffered a defeat to Peru before drawing with Oman. Ninety minutes stand in their way of a Qatar 2022 ticket. Only time will tell if they will seize it.

Team news

Costa Rica: The Central American nation will have the likes of Bryan Ruiz, Joel Campbell, and Celso Borges at hand to lead the line. All three are vastly experienced players, but whether all three will start remains unclear. PSG ace Keylor Navas is destined to start in goal. However, Cristian Gamboa, Alonso Martínez, Ronald Matarrita, and José Guillermo Ortiz are all absent through injuries.

New Zealand: All eyes will be on Winston Reid as the captain aims to return to the lineup for this playoff, with Nando Pijnaker and Tommy Smith given the nod in defense for the final against Solomon Islands. Elijah Just and Matthew Garbett will be hopeful for some time, but in attack, Chris Wood is all but penciled in to lead the line. Sarpreet Singh and Ryan Thomas are sidelined through injury.