Costa Rica vs Serbia Preview

Four years ago Costa Rica qualified for their first World Cup in 12 years and were placed in the same group as England Italy and Uruguay.

They stormed to the top of the group after beating Italy and Uruguay, reaching then quarterfinals.

This time around no one will be underestimating them, but they are also in a relatively easier group than in Brazil 2014.

This is the first time Costa Rica have qualified for consecutive World Cups.

Brazil are favourites to win this group, however, they can join the Selecao if they can beat Serbia and Switzerland.  They will have to overcome their recent poor run of form to get a win here.

Costa Rica have lost six times in their last 8 games including a 2-0 loss at the hands of England and other surprising loses to Hungary, Panama and Tunisia.

Serbia have returned from obscurity to qualify for their first competition since 2010, but they do boast some of Europe’s best players.

Serbia will also be fancying their chance of qualifying ahead of Costa Rica and Switzerland.

The Serbians thrashed Bolivia 5-1 in their last warm up game where Aleksandar Mitrovic netted a hattrick.

That win means they have won six of their last ten games, losing three.

The Serbians have scored in 9 of their last 10 games, conceding a goal in 5 of those games.

Possible starting lineups:

Costa Rica

Serbia

Results of each team’s last 5 matches across all leagues and competitions

Costa Rica

LAST FIVE GAMES						DATE	COMPETITION
L	England		2-0		Costa Rica	7 Jun, 2018	International Friendly
W	Costa Rica		3-0		Northern Ireland	3 Jun, 2018	International Friendly
L	Tunisia		1-0		Costa Rica	27 Mar, 2018	International Friendly
W	Scotland		0-1		Costa Rica	23 Mar, 2018	International Friendly
L	Hungary		1-0		Costa Rica	14 Nov, 2017	International Friendly

Serbia

LAST FIVE GAMES						DATE	COMPETITION
W	Serbia		5-1		Bolivia	9 Jun, 2018	International Friendly
L	Serbia		0-1		Chile	4 Jun, 2018	International Friendly
W	Nigeria		0-2		Serbia	27 Mar, 2018	International Friendly
L	Serbia		1-2		Morocco	23 Mar, 2018	International Friendly
D	South Korea		1-1		Serbia	14 Nov, 2017	International Friendly

H2H