The Costa Rica national football team (Spanish: Selección de fútbol de Costa Rica) represents Costa Rica in men's international football. The national team is administered by the Costa Rican Football Federation (FEDEFUTBOL), the governing body for football in Costa Rica. It has been a member of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) since 1927, the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) since 1961, and a member of the Central American Football Union (UNCAF) since 1990.
Costa Rica is the most successful national football team in history from the region of Central America. Winning three CONCACAF Championships (1963, 1969, 1989) and leading the Copa Centroamericana tournament with four championships up until 2017, when it was absorbed into the CONCACAF Nations League. Costa Rica is the only national team in Central America to have played in five FIFA World Cup editions. Costa Rica's national football team has the all-time highest average Football Elo Ranking in Central America with 1597.1, and the all-time highest Football Elo Ranking in Central America, with 1806 in 2014.
Since the late 1980s, the team has continuously been visible as a solidly competitive side, with a prominent performance in the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy, making it to the knockout stage in their debut after finishing second in their group during the first phase, below Brazil. They also managed to qualify for the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups.
In 2014, Costa Rica achieved their best performance in history by finishing first in their group that consisted of three former World Cup champions: Uruguay, Italy, and England. During the round 16 they defeated Greece 5–3 via a penalty shootout after a 1–1 draw. Moreover, during their match against the Greek team, Keylor Navas saved more than 15 shots. They reached the quarter-finals for the very first time but were defeated by the Netherlands, also in a penalty shootout (3–4) after a scoreless draw on 5 July. Their 2018 World Cup campaign ended in a fourth place group stage exit, with their only point coming from a 2–2 draw against Switzerland.
The National Stadium of Costa Rica (Spanish: Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica) is a multi-purpose stadium in La Sabana Metropolitan Park, San José, Costa Rica. It is the first modern sport and event arena to be built in Central America. The stadium was completed in 2011 and officially opened its doors to the public on Saturday, March 26 of that same year, with a capacity of 35,175 seats. The stadium replaces the original National Stadium. It also serves as the home stadium of the Costa Rica national football team.
It has one high-definition 160-square-metre (1,700 sq ft) screen, located in the southern section of the stadium, along with a smaller monochromatic screen, and another monochromatic screen of the same dimensions in the northern section.
It was used to host matches during the 2014 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, including the opening game, the third place match and the Final.