After a disappointing defeat at Panama, the US men’s national team searches for a bounce-back performance against Costa Rica Wednesday at Columbus Crew's Lower.com Field in both teams' final match of the Concacaf World Cup qualifying October window.
Despite the 1-0 loss to Panama Sunday, their first of the Octagonal, the USMNT sit second in the table with eight points. Costa Rica, meanwhile, are fifth with six points following a 2-1 home win over El Salvador on Sunday.
Here's everything you need to know before the USMNT's latest showdown with Los Ticos.
When
- Wednesday, October 13 (7 pm ET)
Where
- Lower.com Field | Columbus, Ohio
How to watch and stream
- ESPN2, UniMás, TUDN, ESPN+
United States
Remember all those good vibes from the win at Honduras to close out the September window? Or the victory over Jamaica at Austin FC’s Q2 Stadium to open the October window?
Ancient history, it appears, as far as USMNT Twitter is concerned. The sky is falling again and there's criticism aplenty following a 1-0 loss in Panama Sunday. It’s the first loss of qualifying for the US, who are still in second place.
What's key, though, is rebounding at home against a Costa Rica side that's trying to leap into a top-three spot.
Berhalter rotated his roster against Los Canaleros with Weston McKennie, who suffered a slight knock against Jamaica, and Antonee Robinson bypassing the trip to Panama. Robinson and Zack Steffen were missing due to British travel restrictions on “red list” countries like Panama that would impose quarantines when they return to their English clubs.
So there should be some relatively fresh legs for this latest important qualifying match against Costa Rica.
Costa Rica
A loss to Mexico and draws against Panama, Jamaica and Honduras meant the pressure was on Costa Rica when they faced El Salvador over the weekend. Making matters worse, the Ticos fell behind after 12 minutes.
Already at a critical juncture of qualifying, a veteran Costa Rica side responded in kind with Bryan Ruiz and Celso Borges scoring six minutes apart in the second half to secure three critical points.
Now the Ticos are set for the latest chapter of World Cup qualifiers against the USMNT, hoping for a similar result from the last cycle (a 2-0 win at Red Bull Arena) than from the previous one (a 1-0 defeat at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park known as the “Snow Clasico”).
Costa Rica, notably, will be without Joel Campbell (ankle sprain) and striker José Guillermo Ortiz (COVID-19 positive test), per a Monday announcement from their federation.
