Before the start of the tournament in Qatar, Luis Enrique was criticized for excluding senior players. To such attacks, the mentor replied: How can I doubt myself? I am the best coach in the world.” The coach brought a new line-up, which was led by Sergio Busquets. He was the only player who took part in the triumphant performance of the Furies of Roja in 2010. A year ago the Spanish national team confidently performed at Euro 2020, where it was considered one of the favorites of the tournament. The team easily passed the group round of the championship, after which they beat Croatia and Switzerland, but in the semi-finals, in a series of 11-meter strikes, the Spaniards lost to the future champion, the Italian team. In the selection for the 2022 World Cup, the “red fury” played brilliantly. 19 points brought the first position in the group. On November 17, the nominal hosts easily dealt with Jordan in a training game with a score of 3:1. Gillamon will be out of the game today with a knee injury.
Costa Rica’s Luis Fernando Suarez’s team isn’t the weakest, but the strength of the group, which also includes Germany and Japan, means that Los Ticos have received just 9.8 percent to qualify for the playoffs. This is the lowest figure among all participants before the tournament. Nevertheless, this is the third consecutive performance of the team at competitions of this level. Moreover, Suarez has something to strive for. The coach is not against repeating the success of 2014, when his wards reached the quarterfinals, having led the group with England, Italy and Uruguay before that. What’s more, the nominal guests include many players who played at the 2014 World Cup before last and they proved their class by losing only one of their last ten official matches. On June 14, the American team got a fantastic victory over the New Zealand team (1:0) in the intercontinental playoffs, which allowed them to enter the field today. More accurate football prediction can be obtained from the link provided.
