The following is a match centre with betting tips for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Group E fixture between Brazil and Costa Rica. The game kicks off on the 22nd of June at 10:00 PM AEST. It will be broadcast live by SBS, who now have the rights to all remaining group stage matches.
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Brazil
- FIFA World Rank: 2
- Elo Rating: 1
- Qualifying: First place in the CONMEBOL qualifiers with a 12-5-1 record.
Squad:
- Coach: Adenor Leonardo Bacchi (Tite)
- Goalkeepers: Alisson (Roma), Ederson (Manchester City), Cassio (Corinthians)
- Defenders: Miranda (Inter Milan), Marquinhos (Paris Saint-Germain), Thiago Silva (Paris Saint-Germain), Geromel (Gremio), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Fagner (Corinthians), Danilo (Manchester City), Filipe Luis (Atletico Madrid)
- Midfielders: Casemiro (Real Madrid), Fernandinho (Manchester City), Paulinho (Barcelona), Renato Augusto (Beijing Guoan), Philippe Coutinho (Barcelona), Willian (Chelsea), Fred (Shakhtar Donetsk)
- Forwards: Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain), Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City), Firmino (Liverpool), Taison (Shakhtar Donetsk), Douglas Costa (Juventus)
Recent results:
- Brazil 1 – 1 Switzerland
17/06/2018
FIFA World Cup, played in Russia - Austria 0 – 3 Brazil
10/06/2018
Friendly, played in Austria - Croatia 0 – 2 Brazil
03/06/2018
Friendly, played in England - Germany 0 – 1 Brazil
27/03/2018
Friendly, played in Germany - Russia 0 – 3 Brazil
23/03/2018
Friendly, played in Russia - England 0 – 0 Brazil
14/11/2017
Friendly, played in England - Japan 1 – 3 Brazil
10/11/2017
Friendly, played in France - Brazil 3 – 0 Chile
10/10/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Brazil - Bolivia 0 – 0 Brazil
05/10/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Bolivia - Colombia 1 – 1 Brazil
05/09/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Colombia - Brazil 2 – 0 Ecuador
31/08/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Brazil - Australia 0 – 4 Brazil
13/06/2017
Friendly, played in Australia
Statistics: (last four years):
- H2H Record: 33-10-6
- O/U record
- O/U 0.5 record: 46-3
- O/U 1.5 record: 38-11
- O/U 2.5 record: 26-23
- O/U 3.5 record: 13-36
- O/U 4.5 record: 5-44
- O/U 5.5 record: 2-47
- Wins
- Total wins: 33
- Won by 1 goal: 10
- Won by 2 goals: 9
- Won by 3 goals: 9
- Won by 4 goals: 3
- Won by 5 goals: 1
- Won by 5+ goals: 1
- Won to nil 22
- Losses
- Total losses: 6
- Lost by 1 goal: 3
- Lost by 2 goals: 1
- Lost by 3 goals: 1
- Lost by 4 goals: 0
- Lost by 5 goals: 0
- Lost by 5+ goals: 1
- Lost to nil 5
- Clean Sheets and BTTS
- Total Games: 49
- Clean Sheets: 25
- Held Scoreless: 8
- Both Teams Scored: 19
Costa Rica
- FIFA World Rank: 23
- Elo Rating: 27
- Qualifying: Runners up in the CONCACAF Fifth Round with a 4-4-2 record.
Squad:
- Coach: Óscar Ramírez
- Goalkeepers: Keylor Navas (Real Madrid), Patrick Pemberton (LDA), Leonel Moreira (Herediano)
- Defenders: Cristian Gamboa (Celtic), Ian Smith (Norrkoping), Ronald Matarrita (NYCFC), Bryan Oviedo (Sunderland), Oscar Duarte (Espanyol), Giancarlo Gonzalez (Bologna), Francisco Calvo (Minnesota United), Kendall Waston (Vancouver Whitecaps), Johnny Acosta (Aguilas
- Midfielders: David Guzman (Portland Timbers), Yeltsin Tejeda (Lausanne), Celso Borges (Deportivo La Coruna), Randall Azofeifa (Herediano), Rodney Wallace (NYCFC), Bryan Ruiz (Sporting Lisbon), Daniel Colindres (Saprissa), Christian Bolanos (Saprissa)
- Forwards: Johan Venegas (Saprissa), Joel Campbell (Real Betis), Marco Urena (LAFC)
Recent results:
- Costa Rica 0 – 1 Serbia
17/06/2018
FIFA World Cup, played in Russia - Belgium 4 – 1 Costa Rica
11/06/2018
Friendly, played in Belgium - England 2 – 0 Costa Rica
07/06/2018
Friendly, played in England - Costa Rica 3 – 0 Northern Ireland
03/06/2018
Friendly, played in Costa Rica - Tunisia 1 – 0 Costa Rica
27/03/2018
Friendly, played in France - Scotland 0 – 1 Costa Rica
23/03/2018
Friendly, played in Scotland - Hungary 1 – 0 Costa Rica
14/11/2017
Friendly, played in Hungary - Spain 5 – 0 Costa Rica
11/11/2017
Friendly, played in Spain - Panama 2 – 1 Costa Rica
10/10/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Panama - Costa Rica 1 – 1 Honduras
07/10/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Costa Rica - Costa Rica 1 – 1 Mexico
05/09/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Costa Rica - USA 0 – 2 Costa Rica
01/09/2017
WC qualifiers, played in USA
Statistics: (last four years):
- H2H Record: 19-16-16
- O/U record
- O/U 0.5 record: 46-5
- O/U 1.5 record: 34-17
- O/U 2.5 record: 23-28
- O/U 3.5 record: 13-38
- O/U 4.5 record: 6-45
- O/U 5.5 record: 3-48
- Wins
- Total wins: 19
- Won by 1 goal: 10
- Won by 2 goals: 3
- Won by 3 goals: 5
- Won by 4 goals: 1
- Won by 5 goals: 0
- Won by 5+ goals: 0
- Won to nil 12
- Losses
- Total losses: 16
- Lost by 1 goal: 10
- Lost by 2 goals: 3
- Lost by 3 goals: 1
- Lost by 4 goals: 1
- Lost by 5 goals: 1
- Lost by 5+ goals: 0
- Lost to nil 12
- Clean Sheets and BTTS
- Total Games: 51
- Clean Sheets: 17
- Held Scoreless: 17
- Both Teams Scored: 22
Commentary
Brazil began their campaign with a 1-1 draw with Switzerland. It was the first time that Brazil failed to win their opening match at a World Cup since 1978. Apart from Philippe Coutinho’s stunning strike to take the lead, the performance didn’t live up to the high expectations surrounding the side, with Neymar in particular having an underwhelming game and their defence looking suspect, but a draw against the 6th best team in the world (with just 1 defeat in their last 23 games) isn’t a disaster. While they didn’t look the finished article in their opening game, the main focus for Brazil is to progress to the Round of 16, and 3 points from this clash against Costa Rica would give them a giant stride towards it. The key positive is Neymar’s fitness and form should improve as the tournament wears on, and on paper their remaining Group stage opponents are weaker than Switzerland. Neymar had suffered from an ankle niggle earlier in the week but the latest news is that he has returned to full training and is expected to start.
Costa Rica began their World Cup campaign with a 1-0 defeat to Serbia. Once Serbia took the lead in the second half they were able to hold Costa Rica at bay with ease, with Los Ticos lacking the quality in the final third to really threaten their opponents. After registering two shots on target in the opening three minutes, Costa Rica failed to manage another until the 91st minute. It was their third defeat in a row following friendly losses to England and Belgium. Los Ticos have now lost 7 of their last 9, so it’s hard to fancy their chances against a Brazilian side that will be desperate for all 3 points. Goals have been a problem for Costa Rica. In their seven losses they scored a goal in just two of them and were held goalless in the remaining five.
Betting
bet365 odds (subject to change):
Compare the latest bookmaker odds for Brazil vs. Costa Rica
It won’t come as any surprise that history is on the side of Brazil here. They’ve gone 10-3-0 in their last 13 World Cup group games and have topped their group in every World Cup since 1982. Brazil last failed to reach the knockouts in 1966. They have also won nine of their 10 previous games against Costa Rica, with their sole defeat coming in a friendly in 1960. Of Brazil’s last 33 wins, 22 were to nil and 23 were by 2+ goals. Of Costa Rica’s 16 losses over the last four years, 12 were to nil. Even the low-scoring England beat them 2-0 in a June friendly, which bodes ominously against a Brazilian side that will be out to make amends for their last performance. Spain put 5 past Costa Rica in November and Belgium scored 4 against them in June. I like Brazil in the Asian handicap market and the win to nil selection at 1.75 (Ladbrokes) is also worth a look.
Betting tip: back Brazil -1.5 at 1.82 (Betfair)
Notes
- FIFA World rankings are from the 7th of June and sourced from https://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/ranking-table/men/index.html
- The World Football Elo Ratings are from the 11th of June and are based on the Elo rating system, developed by Dr. Arpad Elo. This system is used by the international chess federation to rate chess players and is considered by many to be a superior rating tool to the one used by FIFA. The ratings have been sourced from https://www.eloratings.net/.
- Squad lists sourced from http://www.skysports.com/football/news/12098/11374464/every-world-cup-squad-listed-argentina-brazil-russia-and-more