2022 World Cup: Spain vs Costa Rica prediction, odds and preview

When Spain plays Costa Rica in their Group E opening on Wednesday afternoon, they will be attempting to get their World Cup campaign off to the best possible start.

Costa Rica reached the quarterfinal stage of the 2014 World Cup, which was their best performance in the finals, despite La Roja’s struggles to impress in their two World Cups since winning the trophy in 2010.

In 2010, Spain won the World Cup for the first time. This culminated a remarkable run for the national team, during which they also won Euro 2008 and Euro 2012.

The team led by Luis Enrique is coming off a 3-1 victory over Jordan on Thursday, which marked their first game since defeating Portugal 1-0 to end their UEFA Nations League campaign at the end of September.

Spain comfortably secured their place in the World Cup finals by finishing first in Group B, earning 19 points from their eight games with a record of six victories, one draw, and one loss. Spain finished first in League A Group 2 to advance to the competition’s semi-finals.

The confidence in the team should be strong going into this game after Los Ticos defeated Nigeria 2-0 in their most recent friendly on November 11 and have only lost one of their last 13 games overall.

Having already guided Ecuador and Honduras into the tournament, head coach Luis Fernando Suarez will be in charge of managing in his third World Cup. The 62-year-old was given a new contract following the 1-0 victory over New Zealand in the intercontinental playoffs in June.

Although they are outsiders to move on to the next round because they were the last team to qualify for the World Cup, Costa Rica would benefit from a win over Spain.