COPA AMERICA: COLOMBIA VS COSTA RICA: PREVIEW, PREDICTION & BETTING PICKS

We expect Colombia to be the favourites for this game and record a comfortable victory over Costa Rica as the South American side looks to secure qualification for the quarter-finals. Colombia has a great record against Costa Rica, having won three of the last four meetings between the two sides.Colombia’s strengths are in their possession statistics, having recorded an average of 66% in their previous two games and 68% against Paraguay in their opening group game.

Colombia does have the likes of James Rodriguez and Luis Diaz who could prove effective against Costa Rica.Costa Rica will face a difficult task in their second game, especially against a Colombia side that is unbeaten in their previous 24 international games – a run stretching back to February of 2022.

For this game, we predict that Colombia will extend that unbeaten run to 25 games and record a 3-0 victory over Costa Rica and for Luis Diaz to score.

The Copa America is underway and in Group D, Colombia have the opportunity to become the first team in the Group to qualify for the quarter-finals. Colombia takes on a Costa Rica side that gained a credible draw against one of the tournament favourites, Brazil, in their opening group game.

Date: 28/06/2024

Kick-Off Time: 19:00 EST

Location: University of Phoenix Stadium

Colombia began their Copa America campaign with a 2-1 win over Paraguay and ahead of their second game of the group against Costa Rica, their qualification chances look assured. Los Cafeteros would only need a victory in their second group game, to guarantee themselves a top-two finish at worst within the group. If Brazil were to fail to beat Paraguay and Colombia were to beat Costa Rica, Colombia would finish as group winners with their game against Brazil meaning nothing for their context.

There could also be a scenario where should Costa Rica beat Colombia and Brazil beat Paraguay, three teams could be competing for those two qualification spots – with Brazil facing Colombia in the final group game.In their opening game win over Paraguay, Colombia had a larger share of possession, despite both sides creating an equal amount of chances with 11 each. Colombia opened the scoring in the 32nd minute thanks to a header from Crystal Palace defender Daniel Munoz – assisted by James Rodriguez. Nestor Moreno’s side doubled their lead ten minutes later, as once again James Rodriguez was the creative spark as he found Jefferson Lerma from a set-piece who guided his header home. Paraguay pulled a goal back with 20 minutes through Julio Enciso, although Colombia held on for the important victory.

Colombia is touted as one of the favourites for the competition with Bet365 placing odds of 17/2 – fourth behind Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. Colombia is competing at their 24th Copa America Championship and although they are listed as fourth favourites, they have won only one Copa America. Colombia’s only success came in 2001 when they beat Mexico 1-0 thanks to a goal from former Inter Milan defender Ivan Cordoba.

Costa Rica was rather fortunate to gain a draw in their opening game against Brazil, nonetheless, they have given themselves a great platform to potentially cause an upset in the group. If Costa Rica were to beat Colombia, they would leapfrog Colombia into the top two places and could have their destiny in their hands in the final group game.

A defeat would effectively end any hopes of qualification altogether. Brazil was the dominant team against Costa Rica, having 74% possession and putting 19 shots on the Costa Rican goal. In contrast, Costa Rica only fashioned two shots the entire game. Patrick Sequeira was brilliant for Costa Rica having prevented 0.97 goals in the game, having performed four saves – two of which were big chances also saved.The previous meeting between the two sides resulted in a 3-1 win for Colombia thanks largely to a brace from Columbus Crew striker Cucho Hernandez. The last meeting at the Copa America between the two sides was in 2018, where Costa Rica beat Colombia in the group stage 3-2.

The game will be shown live on FOX in the USA.

Colombia Team News

James Rodriguez plays wide right for Colombia; however, his role is slightly adapted to come inside as Luis Diaz on the opposite side tucks in narrow to support Rafael Borre up front.

Costa Rica Team News

Expect Costa Rica to deploy a defensive set-up against Brazil. Their defensive performance was shown in their last game as they deployed a 5-3-2, looking to use the wing backs as an outlet on the counter.

Colombia is in tremendous form heading into this tournament and has been since they failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup. Colombia’s last defeat in all fixtures was the 1-0 defeat to current World Champions Argentina in 2022, which turned out to be a pivotal result as they missed out on qualification by one point to Peru. Colombia have now gone 24 games unbeaten on the international stage and their record stands at 19 wins and five draws in those 24 played.Following their opening group game victory over Paraguay, Colombia have now won five of their last five international games, including friendly fixtures. In competitive fixtures, Colombia is unbeaten in their last seven games, having won four and drawn three.

Colombia is unbeaten in their last two Copa America games, dating back to the previous tournament, with their previous defeat being a semi-final loss to eventual champions Argentina.Colombia has no issues when it comes to scoring, having scored 14 goals in their last five games, giving them a healthy average of 2.8 goals scored per game. Defensively, however, Colombia have only kept two clean sheets in their previous five games.

Costa Rica goes into this game, with slightly average yet uninspiring form all things considered. Los Ticos have won two from their previous five games, having drawn twice and lost once. Costa Rica are unbeaten in their last four fixtures, with their previous defeat in March against World Champions Argentina.

Costa Rica has only lost once in their last seven games also, having previously lost three of the previous four games before the Argentina defeat.Defensively, Costa Rica has been quite assured in their previous five games. Los Ticos have only conceded once in five games, having kept four clean sheets in that time. One of their more recent victories was a 3-0 win over Granada in the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying second round. This is Costa Rica’s second Copa America since the federation allowed CONCACAF teams to take part in the tournament.