World Cup Qualifier 2022: How Costa Rica and New Zealand played out one of the greatest chess matches of the year – tactical analysis

The final World Cup spot was up for grabs on Tuesday afternoon. Just one more game had to be played to decide who the 32^nd team would be to battle it out in Qatar in November for the greatest honour in the beautiful game.

The stage was set. Costa Rica and New Zealand were preparing to go head-to-head with each other to claim the final allotment in the World Cup at the Al Rayyan Stadium in Doha, Qatar, giving the two continental titans a teasing taste of what’s to come.

Costa Rica had an edge over the All Whites in the form of their manager Luis Fernando Suárez. The 62-year-old had already guided Ecuador to the World Cup in Germany in 2006 and Honduras to Brazil in 2014.

The Ticos were on the verge of qualifying for their third World Cup on the bounce but had seen some mixed results in their warm-up games, losing 2-0 to Panama while beating Martinique by the same score.

On the other hand, New Zealand didn’t fare much better, drawing to 0-0 to Oman and losing 1-0 to Peru.

Nevertheless, it was Costa Rica who will return to Qatar once more in a few months’ time for the 22^nd official FIFA World Cup.

This article will be a tactical analysis of how the Central Americans overcame the Kiwis. It will be an analysis of the tactics used by both Suárez and Danny Hay which led to the game’s outcome.

Lineups and formations

Having taken them thus far, now wasn’t the time for a radical tactical change from the Costa Rican boss. Suárez’s players took to the field, setting up in a 4-4-2 base formation.

The former Real Madrid and current PSG goalkeeper Keylor Navas played between the sticks as the Ticos’ captain, protecting the goal behind a back four comprising of the ex-Everton and Sunderland fullback Bryan Oviedo, Francisco Calvo, Oscar Duarte, and Keysher Fuller.