Placed in Group E, these two sides will also have to deal with Germany and Japan. This is undoubtedly the group of death and every point in this group will count.
Follow Us
Spain will start their World Cup campaign against Costa Rica on Wednesday at Al Thumama Stadium. Placed in Group E, these two sides will also have to deal with Germany and Japan. This is undoubtedly the group of death and every point in this group will count. On paper, Spain and Germany are the slight favourites to get out of the group, however, they both are experienced enough to remember that anything is possible in a tournament of this magnitude. Four years ago in Russia, the Germans were knocked out in the group phase, while Spain got eliminated in the round-of-16 stage.
| Spain vs Costa Rica | Key details |
| Date | November 23 |
| Venue | Al Thumama Stadium |
| Kickoff time in India | 9:30 pm |
| Kickoff time in Spain | 5 pm |
| Kickoff time in Costa Rica | 10 am |
| Kickoff time in Qatar | 7 pm |
It was the second successive World Cup when Spain underperformed after exiting in the group stage as defending champions in Brazil 2014. However, the Spaniards have a chance at redemption in Qatar. They did well to reach the semifinals of Euro 2020 last year before getting knocked out in penalties to eventual winners Italy. They are heading into the Qatar World Cup on the back of finishing at the top of League A Group 2 in the Nations League. Meanwhile, Costa Rica got eliminated in the group phase of the 2018 World Cup. However, they are on a good run lately after going unbeaten in their last five games, which includes four wins.
Read More – Spain vs Costa Rica: Records, Stats, Goals, Head to Head & everything to know
Both sides do not have too many noticeable injury concerns ahead of their World Cup opener. Spain suffered a setback when Jose Gaya withdrew from the squad with an injury. He was swiftly replaced by Alejandro Balde. Otherwise, they have more or less everyone available for this contest. On the other hand, Costa Rica do not have any fresh injury problems, thus they could also name a strong Starting XI. They will have a familiar face in former Real Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas starting at the goalpost.
Spain possible line-up: Simon; Carvajal, Garcia, P Torres, Alba, Busquets, Pedri, Gavi; F Torres, Fati, Morata
Costa Rica possible line-up: Navas, C Martinez, Duarte, Calvo, Oviedo, Bennette, Tejeda, G Torres, Borges, Contreras, Campbell
Spain
| Opponents | Score |
| Jordan | 0-1 (W) |
| Portugal | 3-3 |
| Switzerland | 0-1 (L) |
| Czech Republic | 5-2 (W) |
| Switzerland | 1-1 |
Costa Rica
| Opponents | Score |
| Nigeria | 1-2 (L) |
| Uzbekistan | 0-0 |
| South Korea | 2-0 (W) |
| New Zealand | 3-0 (W) |
| Martinique | 0-0 |
| Last 5 matches (all competitions) | Results |
| Spain beat Costa Rica | 5-0 |
| Spain beat Costa Rica | 2-1 |
| Costa Rica draw Spain | 2-2 |
The FIFA World Cup match between Spain and Costa Rica will take place at Al Thumama Stadium on Wednesday at 9:30 pm IST.
The FIFA World Cup in Qatar can be seen on Sports18 – 1 SD & HD – in India. Sports 18 will be telecasting the games on the regular and HD Channels. Besides, Viacom18 Sports announced that JioCinema will live-stream all the World Cup games. Moreover, the match between Spain and Costa Rica can be seen on Gol Mundial, TVE La 1, fuboTV España, RTVE.es in Spain; and Teletica Radio 91.5, TDMAX, Teletica En Vivo, Teletica Canal 7, Claro Sports, Sky HD in Costa Rica.
