As a native New Yorker, I have always been a very big fan of the New York Mets, my favorite team in my favorite sport (baseball), but beyond that I’m just a casual sports fan.
I am generally aware of how the New York sports teams are faring, and tend to root for any of them that are doing well. With the exception of the fairly recent New York Giants Super Bowl wins, in recent years it has unfortunately been rare to see New York sports teams doing well, especially when you have to exclude the New York Yankees, who I am contractually NOT allowed to like because I’m a big Mets fan.
New York Sports Fan With Bandwidth For More
Therefore, I have bandwidth to pull for additional teams, and can find myself pulling for just about any team in any sport that piques my interest for one reason or another. A current example of that is the expansion Las Vegas Golden Knights in hockey, who have taken the NHL by storm by winning their division in their first year of operation, and made it all the way to the Stanley Cup finals, although losing the series in 5 games.
Now that we own real estate in Jacksonville and plan on making the city at least a part time home starting in 2019, I’ve had more than a passing interest in the Jacksonville Jaguars, the only professional level team in the city, and was super excited last year to see them advance all the way to the AFC championship game!
On a side note, the NFL ban over the treatment of Colin Kaepernick has been in effect in our household so I didn’t really watch any of the games, and tempered my time spent following the sport, but I would definitely consider myself a Jags fan if I had to pick any NFL team.
Since we now own real estate in Costa Rica, I’ve become much more interested in the sports scene there.
Learning About Sports In Costa Rica
I still have a lot to learn as I’m starting from ground zero, with my first post regarding Costa Rica sports relegated to the use of the National Stadium in Costa Rica earlier this year for a New York Red Bulls match.
But I’ve noticed that Costa Rica will be playing in this years FIFA World Cup!
This is the 5th time Costa Rica will participate in the world cup. In the last competition in 2014, Costa Rica finished in 8th place, reaching the quarterfinals for the first time ever, and bowed out without technically ever losing a match, having 2 wins and 3 draws (ties) in their 5 efforts.
They were eliminated when they tied Netherlands 0-0, but lost in the penalty kicks 4-3.
Costa Rica Qualifies For The 2018 FIFA World Cup
In a huge surprise to me (again as a casual fan), Costa Rica qualified in the same division that the United States FAILED to qualify in! Costa Rica joins Mexico and Panama as the three teams representing CONCACAF, which is the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football.
The deciding fifth round of the CONCACAF qualifying tournament lasted 11 months(!), from November 2016 to October 2017. In all, Costa Rica played 10 matches in that tournament, with a record of 4 wins, 4 draws and 2 losses, enough to take second place in the tournament, securing their spot.
The United States placed fifth in that tournament, so they are OUT of the world cup. Costa Rica played the US squad twice in the tournament, winning 4-0 in Costa Rica on November 15th, 2016 and winning 2-0 in the New York Red Bulls arena on September 1, 2017.
Red Bulls Arena in Harrison NJ, where Costa Rica defeated USA
The match in New York was not on my radar at the time, and I don’t know if I’d have been able to go given the game was sold out, but it would have been fun to have seen that game.
For a full explanation of why the United States did not make it into the tournament, check out this interesting USA Today explanation.
Path Ahead For Costa Rica Team
Anyway, Costa Rica is in the world cup again! This year, the tournament will take place in Russa, from June 14 to July 15, across 11 cities.
Costa Rica has been seeded in Group E, along with Brazil, Switzerland and Serbia, with first round matches on June 17, June 22 and June 27.
Brazil is certainly the elephant in the room, having won five world cup titles in their history, and they are currently ranked #2 in the whole tournament. Otherwise, Switzerland is the favored team to place 2nd and move past the first round, but anything can happen, and Costa Rica has as good a chance as the others, especially given their experience in the last tournament.
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After never being much of a fan of the United States in prior world cup tournaments, I’m excited to have a chance to follow Costa Rica this time around, hopefully see them go deep into the tournament, and learn more about Costa Rica sports in the process!
We are Scott and Caroline, 50-somethings who spent the first 20+ years of our adult lives in New York City, working traditional careers and raising 2 kids. We left full-time work in our mid-40’s for location-independent, part-time consulting projects and real estate investing, in order to create a more flexible and travel-centric lifestyle. 
Financial independence and early retirement is not something we originally focused on, but over time realized it was possible. Our free report, 
