The

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification was the FIFA World Cup qualification, qualifying process which decided the 31 teams that would join hosts Qatar national football team, Qatar, who received an automatic spot, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Par ...

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typeset for branding purposes since 2018 as Concacaf), is one of FIFA's six continental governing bodies for association football. Its 4 ...

– OFC play-off was a single-leg match between the fourth-placed team of the CONCACAF qualification third round,

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

, and the winners from the OFC qualification,

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. Before their identity was known, the winners of the play-off had already been allocated to

Group E Group E may refer to: * E-Group: E-Groups are unique architectural complexes found among a number of ancient Maya settlements * Group E (vase painting), a group of Attic vase painters of the black-figure style, active between 560 and 540 BC. * On ...

at the World Cup. The match was played on 14 June 2022 at the

Ahmad bin Ali Stadium The new Ahmad bin Ali Stadium (), popularly known as Al-Rayyan Stadium, is an association football stadium located in the district of Rawdat Al Jahhaniya, Qatar, around northwest from the centre of Al Rayyan. It is currently used mostly for f ...

Al Rayyan Al Rayyan (; also spelled ''Ar Rayyan'') is the third-largest municipalities of Qatar, municipality in Qatar. Its primary settlement is the Al Rayyan (city), city of the same name, which occupies the entire eastern section and is a part of the Do ...

, Qatar. Costa Rica won the match 1–0 to qualify for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

Background

The draw for the inter-confederation play-offs fixtures was held on 26 November 2021. Both teams had met once, a friendly won 4–0 by Costa Rica at the

Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá is a football stadium in San Juan de Tibás, with a seating capacity of 23,112, making it the second-largest stadium in the country. The stadium is the home of Deportivo Saprissa, and was named in honor of the team ...

in San José on 24 March 2007. Current Costa Rican captain

Bryan Ruiz Bryan Jafet Ruiz González (; born 18 August 1985) is a Costa Rican former professional Association football, footballer. A left-footed Midfielder#Attacking midfielder, attacking midfielder, he also played as a Forward (association football)#S ...

, then 21 years old, scored a goal and gave an assist in that match. He is also the only player from that match to remain active with his national team. Current New Zealand's coach

Danny Hay Daniel John Hay (born 15 May 1975) is a retired New Zealand professional footballer who formerly managed the New Zealand men's national football team, New Zealand U-23, and New Zealand U-20. Hay played as a central defender for Premier Leagu ...

also played that match. The match was the second inter-confederation play-off for Costa Rica, having previously lost 1–2 on aggregate to

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

. Since the OFC had no direct qualification spots, New Zealand reached the intercontinental play-offs for the fourth consecutive time, winning

the first The First or The 1st may refer to: Arts and entertainment Albums * The 1st (album), ''The 1st'' (album), by Willow, 2017 * The First (Shinee album), ''The First'' (Shinee album), 2011 * The First (single album), by NCT Dream, 2017 Television * T ...

(against

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

in 2009) and losing the remaining two ( against

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

in 2013 and against

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

in 2017). Costa Rica had a complicated start of the qualifying process. During the first half of the CONCACAF qualification third round, Costa Rica stood fifth at only six points out of twenty-one, five points behind

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

, then the fourth-placed team. The second half of the round began on 16 November 2021; that night, as Costa Rica was drawing a home match against

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

, their gap against the Panamanians almost increased to seven points; however, a late goal by

Gerson Torres Gerson Torres Barrantes (born 28 August 1997) is a Costa Rican professional footballer who plays as a right midfielder for Liga FPD club Deportivo Saprissa and the Costa Rica national team. Career Club career Youth career Torres joined Belen' ...

gave a crucial victory for the ''Ticos'', who from then onwards enrolled in an unprecedented comeback, with six victories and one draw that saw them overtaking Panama, ending

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

's undefeated streak, and finishing fourth of the table, with only the goal difference preventing them to overtake the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

for the third place. Marked by several delays due to effects of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

such as travel restrictions that national teams couldn't be able to travel in those countries, the OFC qualification round announced the tournament scheduled to be held in Qatar (host country of the World Cup) in March 2022. New Zealand won the tournament and qualified to the play-off match against the fourth-placed team of the CONCACAF qualification third round, who was unknown at the time. The group stage draw of the World Cup took place on 1 April 2022, leaving the CONCACAF–OFC play-off winners allocated in

, alongside

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Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Later, in May, FIFA revealed the stadium that would host both the AFC vs CONMEBOL and CONCACAF vs OFC play-off matches: the

, Qatar. The winners of the CONCACAF vs OFC play-off match would return to the stadium at the World Cup to face Japan on 27 November.

Venue

Match

Summary

Three minutes into the match,

Joel Campbell Joel Nathaniel Campbell Samuels (; born 26 June 1992) is a Costa Rican professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Alajuelense and the Costa Rica national team. Campbell joined Arsenal in 2011 and was thereafter loaned out to Fre ...

received a cross from

Jewison Bennette Jewison Francisco Bennette Villegas (born 15 June 2004) is a Costa Rican professional footballer who plays as a left winger for Ukrainian Premier League side LNZ Cherkasy and the Costa Rica national team. Club career Early career Born in Her ...

to score the lone goal. At the 39th minute, Chris Wood scored a goal after a poor clearance by

Yeltsin Tejeda Yeltsin Ignacio Tejeda Valverde (; born 17 March 1992) is a Costa Rican professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Liga FPD club Herediano, which he captains, and the Costa Rica national team. He is named after the firs ...

. However, his goal was nullified as the

video assistant referee The video assistant referee (VAR) is a Assistant referee (association football), match official in association football who assists the referee by reviewing decisions using video footage and providing advice to the referee based on those revi ...

(VAR) showed that

Matthew Garbett Matthew Jimmy David Garbett (born 13 April 2002) is a professional footballer who last played as a midfielder for side NAC Breda. Born in England, he plays for the New Zealand national team. Club career Western Suburbs Aged 12, Garbett moved f ...

had fouled Óscar Duarte prior to the goal. The VAR was also used at the 69th minute, after

Kosta Barbarouses Konstantinos "Kosta" Barbarouses (; born 19 February 1990) is a New Zealand professional association football, footballer who last played as a winger (association football), winger for A-League Men club Wellington Phoenix FC. Club career Kost ...

, who had been subbed in just nine minutes prior, tackled

Francisco Calvo Francisco Javier Calvo Quesada (; born 8 July 1992) is a Costa Rican professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Süper Lig club Hatayspor and captains the Costa Rica national team. Early life After starting with Deportivo Saprissa ...

's ankle. Referee

Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohamed Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohamed (; born 2 December 1978) is an Emirati football referee who has been a full international referee for FIFA since 2010. He was one of the referees of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. In June 2022, he officiated the CONCAC ...

originally showed Barbarouses a yellow card, but after checking the VAR, Hassan changed it to a red card, leaving New Zealand down to ten men for the rest of the match. The refereeing caused frustration in the New Zealand team. Coach

said that "FIFA has let us down" because of the relative inexperience of the referees compared to the European officials for the Australia vs Peru match. Former Costa Rican referee Ramón Luis Méndez considered both the goal disallowance and the red card as valid decisions, but questioned why the VAR did not check a foul by

Kendall Waston Kendall Jamaal Waston Manley (born 1 January 1988) is a Costa Rican professional footballer who plays as a centre-back and forward for Liga FPD club Saprissa and the Costa Rica national team. Club career Saprissa and loans Waston made his pro ...

on Chris Wood that should have been a penalty.

Details

Man of the Match:

Keylor Navas Keilor Antonio "Keylor" Navas Gamboa (; born 15 December 1986) is a Costa Rican professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Argentine Primera División club Newell's Old Boys and the Costa Rica national team. He is regarded as one o ...

(Costa Rica)

Notes

References

External links

*
Qualifiers
FIFA.com {{DEFAULTSORT:2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF-OFC play-off) FIFA World Cup qualification inter-confederation play-offs World Cup qualification play-off 4 2021–22 in CONCACAF football FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF–OFC play-off) Costa Rica national football team matches New Zealand men's national football team matches World Cup qualification play-off FIFA World Cup play-off International association football competitions hosted by Qatar World Cup play-off

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a set of competitive matches that a national association football team plays in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the men's FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments ar ...

Sport in Al Rayyan Costa Rica at the 2022 FIFA World Cup