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Costa Rica has become the last team to complete successfully its journey to the 2023 World Cup in Qatar no thanks to an ex-Arsenal star.
Costa Rica has booked a ticket to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar after a hard-fought victory over New Zealand.
Los Ticos, as the Costa Rican national team is known, became the final team to pick up that exclusive and elusive ticket to Qatar following a narrow 1-0 win in the intercontinental playoff against New Zealand in Doha late Tuesday.
Former Arsenal forward, Joel Campbell, turned out to be the hero of the day for Los Ticos.
Campbell netted the only goal of the match just three minutes into the game with a memorable first-time strike.
That goal seemed to bring out the best out of New Zealand, who pushed for the equaliser but failed to find the elusive goal.
Their efforts were made more difficult when Kosta Barbarouses was sent off late into the second half as the All Whites finished the game with ten men.
New Zealand also met a bulwark in the person of Keylor Navas, the Costa Rican goalkeeper, who helped thwart their every effort.
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In the end, it was Costa Rica who celebrated with a ticket to the World Cup slated for later this year in Qatar. This will be the third successive world cup appearances for Los Ticos.
However, Costa Rica will have their work caught out in Qatar as they were drawn to compete in Group E alongside former champions, Spain and Germany, while Asian giant, Japan, completes the group.
They also became the fourth country from CONCACAF to qualify for the Qatar fiesta after the trio of Canada, Mexico and the United States of America.
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