User:ChipsPacketLover/Costa Rica at the 2014 Soccer World Cup

Content in this edit is translated from the existing Spanish Wikipedia article at es:Costa Rica en la Copa Mundial de Fútbol de 2014; see its history for attribution.

The Costa Rican soccer team was one of the 32 teams that participated in the 2014 Soccer World Cup. This was its fourth participation in the World Cup; the first was the 1990 Soccer World Cup and the best presentation since it reached the quarterfinals for the first time. Adding the fact that it did not lose any game in regulatory time, since it was eliminated by penalty shootout. After qualifying first in a group with three former world champions and their good performance, Costa Rica was listed as the "surprise" of the competition.

The Central American team achieved the FIFA distinction for the best player in each of the five games they played. Goalkeeper Keylor Navas got three, while forwards Joel Campbell and Bryan Ruiz got one. In addition, goalkeeper Navas was one of the three nominated for the award for the best goalkeeper in the World Cup, The Golden Glove.

The Costa Rican team qualified in first place in Group D after winning 1-3 against Uruguay, by 0-1 against Italy and drawing 0-0 against England. In the next phase (Round 16), the Costa Ricans drew against Greece and won in the penalty shootout 5-3. Finally, they were eliminated before The Netherlands drawing 0-0 and being eliminated 4-3 on penalties. Near the end of the match the coach of the Netherlands, Louis van Gaal, made an unusual change of goalkeepers only for penalties.