With just one day left until the World Cup kicks off, there are still some friendlies being played, with England facing Costa Rica in their final match before the official competition begins to fine-tune the last details.
In their first match of this kind, England chose New Zealand as the opponent. They used their usual lineup to start, but went with a completely different team in the second half. The 1-0 win left some doubts, even if they did not play at full intensity.
For Costa Rica, being part of these matches is a bit disappointing, since they did not qualify for the main tournament as they had hoped. They also played a friendly against Colombia on June 1, which they lost 3-1 against a strong side.
Johnson and Costa Rica see the first yellow card
21' Johnson brings down Gordon from behind and is shown a yellow card.
Arsenal players and England return to action
19' This is the first match for the Arsenal players since their time off following the Champions League final.
Kane and England threaten from a corner
14' The corner is sent to the far post, where Kane heads it back into the box, but the Costa Rica defense clears the danger well.
Gordon and England win a corner
13' Another dangerous run down the left by Gordon ends with his cross taking a deflection, and the goalkeeper pushes the ball out for a corner.
GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAL! Rice scores for England
9' Gordon makes a great run down the left and cuts the ball back for Rice, who fires a first-time left-footed shot into the far corner for the opening goal.
Bellingham and England go close
5' Bellingham cuts inside from the left and fires from the edge of the box, but his shot deflects off a defender and goes just wide.
England and Costa Rica trade fouls
4' The match has had a stop-start beginning, with both teams committing several fouls.
England and Costa Rica get the match underway
The match is underway between England and Costa Rica.
Confirmed lineup for Costa Rica
Sequeira; Johnson, Mitchell, Faerron, Araya; Salazar; Mora, Galo, Soto, Alcocer; Ugalde.
Confirmed lineup for England
Jordan Pickford, Reece James, Ezri Konsa, John Stones, Nico O'Reilly; Declan Rice, Elliot Anderson; Noni Madueke, Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon; Harry Kane.
Tuchel on Bukayo Saka
“We still have to take care a little bit of Bukayo, who had an injury during the March camp and carried it into his club season. He was available and made himself available at the end of the season, and he did that brilliantly, but he was managed between matches. That continues a little bit at the moment, so we're building him up.”
Thomas Tuchel's polemic
The England manager said: "How many favorites are there? No, we're not the top favorites. We can't be because we haven't won it for so many years."
Match time confirmed
The match has been delayed due to bad weather and will now kick off at 5 PM ET.
The antecedents
England and Costa Rica have met twice before. The first encounter came on June 24, 2014, in the final match of the World Cup group stage, with England already eliminated and Costa Rica securing first place in the group after a 0-0 draw. The second meeting was on June 7, 2018, when England earned a 2-0 victory in a friendly match.
Their groups
England were placed in Group L with Croatia (June 17), Ghana (June 23) and Panama (June 27), while Costa Rica did not qualify.
Match delayed
The match has been delayed from its scheduled 4 PM ET kickoff due to bad weather. There is still no confirmed start time.
The stadium
The venue for this match is Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando, Florida, United States. It has a capacity of 25,500.
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