Sports Mole previews Friday’s World Cup Qualifying – North Central America clash between Costa Rica and Saint Kitts and Nevis, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Costa Rica and Saint Kitts and Nevis will face off on Thursday at Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica in Group B action as both sides begin their 2026 CONCACAF World Cup qualifying campaigns.
It will be the first meeting between these nations, with Los Ticos coming off a 0-0 draw with Uruguay in a friendly last Friday, while the Sugar Boyz claimed that same result in a friendly versus San Marino in March.
Match preview
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Thursday will be the start of a busy month of football for the Costa Ricans, who play two World Cup qualifiers and a pair of group fixtures at the Copa America.
Following a dismal end to 2023, when they lost their final three matches in all competitions and conceded three goals each time, things are looking a lot more promising for them so far this year.
Costa Rica have claimed a positive result in two of their three competitive fixtures this month, including a victory in both of their encounters versus CONCACAF opponents.
It has been over a year since La Sele last suffered a defeat at Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica (1-0 to Panama in March 2023), while they are unbeaten in their two matches played there in 2024, conceding just once.
The Central Americans will enter this encounter on an eight-match unbeaten run in World Cup qualifying, a run that enabled them to qualify for Qatar 2022 after winning just one of their first seven games in that Octagonal stage.
Gustavo Alfaro has won two of his four matches in charge against CONCACAF opponents, while Costa Rica have not been knocked out in the second round of qualification since the 1994 cycle.
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Sant Kitts begin their World Cup qualifying journey on a two-match unbeaten run in all competitions, defeating San Marino in a friendly back on March 20 (3-1) and picking up a 0-0 result against them days later.
That may be the confidence boost they need following a dismal end to their previous Nations League campaign, with the Sugar Boyz relegated from League B, finishing at the bottom of their group with just four points.
This small island nation are in the second round of World Cup qualifying for the fifth successive time, though they have yet to advance beyond this stage since the 2006 qualification campaign.
In their previous World Cup qualifying campaign, they surprised everyone by topping a group that featured Caribbean heavyweights Trinidad and Tobago and followed that up by featuring in the CONCACAF Gold Cup for the first time in 2023.
Under Francisco Molina‘s guidance, this side have only triumphed in one of their previous five competitive fixtures, failing to find the back of the net on four of those occasions.
Their opening qualifying match this week will mark their first meeting with a Central American opponent since 2021, when El Salvador beat them 6-0 on aggregate, ending their 2022 World Cup qualification hopes.
Costa Rica form (all competitions):
Saint Kitts and Nevis form (all competitions):
Team News
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Jeyland Mitchell and Yeison Molina picked up their first international caps for Costa Rica in their draw with Uruguay, leaving 18-year-old Andy Rojas as the only player called up for this fixture without a senior appearance.
Joel Campbell will be seeking his 138th cap for Los Ticos, which would surpass Walter Centeno for fourth all-time, and he can move beyond Celso Borges and Juan Ulloa for fifth in goals should he find the back of the net in this contest.
Molina named four uncapped players to his Saint Kitts squad for this fixture, including Tyrique Davis, Gabriel Vanterpool, Vibert Stephens and Kai Trotman.
In his 63rd appearance between the sticks for the Sugar Boyz back in March, Julani Archibald collected a clean sheet, while Tyquan Terrell, Harry Panayiotou and Andre Burley found the back of the net in their victory over San Marino a few days earlier, the first international goal for the Oxford City defender.
Costa Rica possible starting lineup:
P. Sequeira; Cascante, Vargas, Calvo; Quiros, Galo, Aguilar, Brenes; Lassiter, Zamora; Campbell
Saint Kitts and Nevis possible starting lineup:
Archibald; Maynard, Burley, Ible, Shade; Sterling-James, Sawyers, Rogers, Mitchum; Panayiotou, Edwards
We say: Costa Rica 4-0 Saint Kitts and Nevis
Although the Costa Ricans do not have as much experience this time around, they have more than enough talent to comfortably triumph in this encounter.
Saint Kitts have never beaten a Central American side this century, and we believe they still have some growing pains to experience before becoming a consistently competitive CONCACAF nation.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.