Costa Rica coach Luis Fernando Suarez pointed out that the experience of his seniors Keeler Navas and Brian Ruiz led to New Zealand’s 1-0 win in the international playoffs and their final ticket to the World Cup.
Former Arsenal striker Joel Campbell scored for Costa Rica three minutes later.
But New Zealand were upset when video-assisted refereeing technology canceled the tie in the 39th minute due to a mistake made by Chris Wood before the ball was put into the net. Costa Rica’s 35-year-old senior goalkeeper Nawaz, who represented Qatar at the World Cup (CONCACAF), has played in more than 100 matches for his country, including 36-year-old striker Ruiz. After the match, Fernando Suarez said: “I was happy to be able to persuade them to continue and play in the World Cup again. Many criticized this, but they played a major role in this success. This team is amazing. I can not describe it … things are so easy for these players to do. “
Prize for winning New Zealand in Group E along with Spain, Germany and Japan in the final starting on November 21 (November).
When asked about his team’s prospects in the tough team, the coach said: “We celebrate now and then come back next week to think about everything. We need to improve and hope to be able to do it in the next few months. We want to be competitive, that’s the most important thing.
Costa Rica failed to qualify directly for the final, but Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Navas, who is competing in the World Cup for the third time in a row, pointed out that he had not given up hope, adding: “Our dream has not stopped despite the hard work. The team is under a lot of pressure. ”
New Zealand coach Danny Hay, on the other hand, criticized the referee after a controversial decision by the video assistant referee, who did not allow a goal for his team and added: “I’m honest. I think some of the match officials failed miserably. Chris Wood’s goal was right, we were not awarded a penalty. He added: “The goal was canceled because two players fought for the ball, but the mistake may have gone to our player Matt Corbett.” Corbett knocked Oscar Duarte to the ground.
But 20 minutes before the end of the match the “mouse” intervened to expel Barbarossa, and Hay said: “I did not heed the second warning from the Costa Rican player.
Senior New Zealand defender Winston Reid, who previously played for England clubs West Ham and Brentford, has agreed with his coach. Unfortunately, some results are not in our favor. But that’s part of football, that’s what happened, and it’s disappointing.
Hay noted that New Zealand need more competitive football if they want to raise the bar in a country that loves rugby. This will be New Zealand’s fourth consecutive playoff round in the Oceania Regional Qualifiers, but lost to Mexico before the 2014 final, and Russia suffered their third consecutive defeat against Peru before the last World Cup. Oceania beat New Zealand again in the 2022 qualifying round, but played only five matches against smaller nations from the Pacific Ocean. “We have to play strong matches at the highest level,” Hay said. It gets harder when you don’t get consistently strong competition. It would be nice and effective to continue playing strong matches to deal with more stress. I think it will raise the bar in New Zealand because one big game every four years is not enough. “
The Oceania region has a place in the 2026 World Cup with 48 teams held in North America. Given New Zealand’s dominance in the region, New Zealand will be a strong contender to qualify for the finals in four years.