Costa Rica vs Germany Preview & Recap
Win Only Acceptable Result for Germany
⚽Costa Rica vs Germany: Game Recap⚽
Results: Costa Rica 2-4 Germany
The mighty have fallen. Germany has been knocked out in the group stages for the second successive World Cup. But, despite a comfortable win on the night, it is scant consolation for another dark day in German football history. Germany came from behind in a 4-2 victory against Costa Rica, yet the 2014 champions crashed out of the 2022 World Cup.
Hansi Flick’s side dominated the first half, with over 60 percent possession, and held a comfortable 1-0 lead from a Serge Gnabry header. However, like previously in the tournament, they had also been quite wasteful in front of goal, and their inability to convert chances in the opening 45 minutes left the door open for Costa Rica to claw their way back into the affair.
And Costa Rica made the Germans pay for their inefficiency.
In the second half, against the run of play, Costa Rica equalized through Yeltsin Tejeda, who bundled home a rebound to throw Group E into disarray. At the same time, Japan took the lead against Spain, which meant that Germany would be eliminated regardless of their result.
When Vargas finished his effort, Costa Rica took the lead through another scrappy goal. However, Flick made a double substitution with Havertz and Fullkrug coming on, and the match turned on its head. Havertz scored twice to put the Germans in front before Fullkrug added a late fourth.
However, with Germany depending on Japan’s result, Japan ultimately eliminated Flick’s side from the tournament.
 Costa Rica | – |  Germany |
|---|---|---|
| 32% | Possession | 68% |
| 8 | Total Shots | 32 |
| 6 | Shots on Target | 11 |
| 1 | Shots Wide | 15 |
| 1 | Shots Blocked | 6 |
| 7 | Saves | 4 |
| 1 | Corners | 14 |
| 1 | Yellow Cards | 0 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 3 | Fouls | 9 |
| 4 | Offsides | 3 |
| 75% | Pass Accuracy | 89% |
| 8 | Dribbles | 17 |
| 11 | Crosses | 32 |
| 21 | Tackles | 12 |
Did We Get It Right?
Below you will find all the predictions we made before the matchup, on November 28, 2022.
Germany and Costa Rica Save Their Tournaments
Germany and Costa Rica both faced an uphill climb to make the FIFA World Cup round of 16 after one match. Spain humiliated Costa Rica 7-0 and Japan pulled off a 2-1 upset vs. Germany. The Ticos showed resilience to bounce back and defeat Japan. Meanwhile, Germany salvaged a late draw vs. Spain to stay in the mix. Germany and Costa Rica will clash in the group stage finale with a spot in the knockout stage very much in the balance. We’ll review the latest odds and news in our Costa Rica vs Germany preview.
Costa Rica vs Germany
Date, time (TV):
Location: Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor, Qatar
Streaming: FS1, Peacock
Team Standings and Odds:
| Team | FIFA World Ranking | World Cup Qualifying Record | Knockout Stage Odds | Odds to Win Group | Odds to Win World Cup |
| Costa Rica | 31 | 8-4-3, 4th CONCACAF | +650 | +5000 | +125000 |
| Germany | 11 | 9-0-1, 1st UEFA Group J | -500 | N/A | +1200 |
| All Meetings: | Teams |
|---|---|
| Jun 2006: | Germany 4-2 Costa Rica |
Costa Rica vs Germany previews note that these teams have only met once before, in the 2006 FIFA World Cup group stage. Hosts Germany came away with a 4-2 win in the opening match of the tournament. Legendary German striker Miroslav Klose scored a brace in the match.
Costa Rica: Back in Business
Standings: 1-1, 3 pts, 3rd
Previous Match: 1-0 W vs. Japan, 0-7 L vs. Spain
It certainly wasn’t pretty but Costa Rica got the job done on Sunday vs. Japan. Costa Rica looked second best for much of the match and were pinned in their own half during the latter part of the second half. Still, the Ticos hung around and all it took was one shot on target to make Japan pay. Keysher Fuller scored with a curling effort that Japan keeper Shuichi Gonda couldn’t do much about.
Now, Costa Rica head into the last match of the group stage very much in the race for a knockout stage berth. However, the FIFA betting odds aren’t giving them much of a chance at all to advance. Costa Rica show just +650 odds to move on to their first knockout stage since 2014, when they made the quarterfinals. Due to their -6 goal difference, they’ll almost certainly need to win to advance.
With two yellow cards in two matches, key defender Francisco Calvo is suspended for the Germany match. Expect Kendall Waston to start in defense again as a result. Costa Rica coach Luis Fernando Suárez switched to five at the back for the Japan match and it seemed to pay dividends. Expect Costa Rica to set up defensively once again and invite Germany to break them down.
Germany: Fullkrug to the Rescue
Standings: 0-1-1, 1 pt, 4th
Previous Match: 1-1 D vs. Spain, 1-2 L vs. Japan
Germany were at serious risk of missing the knockout stage for an inconceivable second straight World Cup heading into their match vs. Spain. La Furia Roja had just come off a seven-goal demolition of Costa Rica and Germany were reeling after an upset loss to Japan. It looked like Germany’s misery would continue when Spain’s Alvaro Morata scored after 62 minutes. Then, 29 year old German striker Niclas Fullkrug came on to make just his third international appearance.
Immediately, the Werder Bremen man had a huge impact. He was a nuisance for the Spanish defense to deal with and he fired a thundering strike past Unai Simon in the 83rd minute. The goal preserved a point and kept Germany in the tournament. Along with Fullkrug, young Bayern Munich attacking midfielder Jamal Musiala was a bright spot.
With the draw, Germany World Cup odds to advance to the round of 16 improved from +350 to -500. They’ll need to defeat Costa Rica for that to become a reality and will want to be more clinical with their chances. Germany have scored just twice in the tournament so far and it remains to be seen whether Fullkrug will play a bigger part going forward. Thomas Muller has an incredible 10 career World Cup goals but hasn’t made much of an impact thus far.
Match Analysis and Odds:
Costa Rica vs Germany Previews note that Germany are massive 2½-goal favorites heading into Thursday’s match. Die Mannschaft also show -130 odds to cover the goal-line and get the result they need to go through. Costa Rica sit at +110 ATS odds and just +2500 to go on and win the match. They’ll relish their underdog status coming into this one and set out to prove that the Spain match was an anomaly.
Germany’s moneyline odds come in at -1100 and a draw is priced at +975 odds. The Germans are overwhelming favorites to get their first win of the tournament but cannot win the group no matter the result. So, that means Germany will play the Group F winner if they advance to the round of 16. If the group stage ended today it would be Croatia but Belgium and Morocco are still in the running.
Germany sit at -170 odds to keep a shutout and their over/under team total is 3½.
If you like goals, this could be the match for you. In a tournament with an unusual number of scoreless draws, over 3½ goals comes in at -130 odds. Germany sit at -170 odds to keep a shutout and their over/under team total is 3½. Punters and oddsmakers alike don’t seem to trust Costa Rica to be able to pull off another upset. Perhaps having no expectation to perform could be a boost for the underdogs here.
