Costa Rica Qualifies, Completing Concacaf’s Strongest (And Wealthiest) World Cup Cohort Ever

The Costa Rica national team were far from convincing in their 1-0 victory over New Zealand in Tuesday’s Intercontinental World Cup Qualifying playoff. But no matter.

The Ticos are headed to the 2022 FIFA World Cup later this year in Qatar. And in the processes, they’ve rounded out arguably the strongest and deepest Concacaf World Cup contingent in the federation’s history.

Costa Rica are ranked 31st in the March FIFA World Rankings, seven spots ahead of automatic Concacaf qualifiers Canada. They become the third fourth-place Concacaf finisher to win a qualifying playoff after Trinidad and Tobago in 2006 and Honduras in 2014. And they complete a quartet that stacks up well against nearly other federation when you look at the (albeit imperfect) metrics available.

Of the six continental federations recognized by FIFA, only the AFC (Asia) can match Concacaf in sending its four highest-ranked nations to this fall’s tournament. Only UEFA (Europe) can match Concacaf in qualifying teams exclusively from the top 40 in those same rankings.

This isn’t to suddenly to say the entire soccer world order has shifted. Only ninth-ranked Mexico penetrates the European and South American stranglehold on the World top 10. And the criteria that go into the FIFA rankings are far from a perfect system.

If you look at the squad values of respective national teams, the grades on Concacaf sides are less flattering. But still impressive in context.

The United States’ squad is the highest valued at $232.8 million, according to Transfermarkt, making it the 26th-most-valuable roster worldwide. Canada are two spots behind at $193.8 million, and Mexico’s squad are 45th with an estimated value of around $101.0 million.

But just as the FIFA rankings have biases, so do transfer valuations. The vast majority of commerce in the sport occurs in Europe or South America, which drives player valuations in those markets higher. And an enormous volume of scouting occurs in Africa, even if the top-level players there are almost always expored at a young age. In that context, the United States and Canada are the highest valued international rosters outside of UEFA, Conmebol (South America) or the CAF (Africa).

Whatever your metric, it’s hard to argue that Concacaf could be dissatisfied with which four of its currents teams are alive for the big tournament.

Since qualifying expanded to allow at least three Concacaf representatives, the best equivalent to this group might be the 2014 contingent of Mexico, the United States, Costa Rica and Honduras that competed in Brazil. Three of those four teams advanced past their groups, and Costa Rica went the deepest with a trip to the quarterfinals. In the process, the Ticos shocked the world by winning their group ahead of Uruguay, England and Italy.

The best news of all might be for marketers. The United States, Canada and Mexico represent the continent’s three largest economies, and it’s the first time ever that all three nations have competed simultaneously in the event.

Costa Rica’s economy is small by comparison. But it still ranks seventh in the region in terms of overall GDP according to 2018 figures from the IMF, and also seventh in GDP per capita among nations in the region according to 2021 IMF figures.

The United States, Canada and Mexico set to co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and as many as eight nations could represent the federation four years from now. As such, there’s more pressure on Concacaf’s teams to prove their worthiness as individual nations but as a collective

None of the above facts guarantee strong performances later this year in Qatar. But Concacaf can’t complain about the foot it will be putting forward.