International Friendly: Dries Mertens (31′) Belgium 1-1 Costa Rica
International Friendly: Bryan Ruiz (24′) Belgium 0-1 Costa Rica
Romelu Lukaku scored twice and added an assist to help Belgium overcome an early deficit in a rout of Costa Rica ahead of the World Cup.
International Friendly: Romelu Lukaku (50′) Belgium 3-1 Costa Rica
Marcus Rashford scored his third international goal and impressed overall at Elland Road.
LEEDS, England — Three thoughts on England’s 2-0 win vs. Costa Rica in an international friendly.
1. Rashford takes his chance but Vardy struggles
Marcus Rashford emphasised his ability to provide the X-factor for England at the World Cup with an outstanding goalscoring performance.
The Manchester United forward, who travelled to Euro 2016 as an 18-year-old, goes to Russia after a difficult campaign under Jose Mourinho but, having been handed a starting role by England manager Gareth Southgate…
England
Costa Rica
2
0
FT
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A stunning strike from Marcus Rashford and a Danny Welbeck header gave a confident-looking England a 2-0 win over Costa Rica in their pre-World Cup friendly at Leeds’ Elland Road on Thursday.
Rashford, who impressed throughout with his speed and control, fired England ahead in the 13th minute, unleashing a dipping diagonal drive from the right which flew past helpless Costa Rica keeper Keylor Navas.
England, whose manager Gareth Southgate made 10 changes from the side which beat Nigeria 2-1 at Wembley…
Holders Germany are looking to become just the third team to defend their World Cup title when they take the field in Russia. In this special 10-part series, ESPN’s Jayaditya Gupta, who has attended every World Cup since 2002, recalls his favourite matches from the tournament. At no. 5, it’s the 2006 World Cup opener, where hosts Germany began a new era under Klinsmann and Low, showing signs of things to come with their new, attacking style of play.
The context
The opening match of the 2006 World Cup, in Bayern Munich’s state-of-the-art colour-changing stadium.
Philipp Lahm scored the opening goal of the 2006 World Cup.
The match
The Curse of the World Cup Opener puts goals…
Costa Rica
Northern Ireland
3
0
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Costa Rica were 2014’s ‘giant killers’, but can they repeat, or better their accomplishments in Russia?
Take a behind-the-scenes look at Whitecaps training as it was announced Kendall Waston had been named to Costa Rica’s 23-man World Cup roster.
Ian Darke leads the ESPN panel in predicting the 2018 World Cup winner with names of Germany, Brazil, France and England among the list.
The ESPN FC crew break down Brazil’s Group E which contains Switzerland, Costa Rica and Serbia.
The 2018 World Cup is just over a month away, and all 32 teams are preparing in earnest for their shot at the trophy in Russia. ESPN FC is previewing every team ahead of the opening game on June 14. Find all 32 teams here.
Who they are
Captain: Bryan Ruiz
Manager: Oscar Ramirez
Nickname: La Sele
FIFA rank (as of April 12, 2018): 25
How they qualified
Costa Rica won their group with 16 points to advance to CONCACAF’s Hexagonal phase. In their first game of the round…
Real Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas says he is more nervous about promoting his new biopic at Cannes this week than he is about facing Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane in the Champions League final on May 26.
“Hombre de Fe” (“Man of Faith”) tells how Costa Rica international Navas’ faith was vital to his progress from a humble rural background to winning back to back Champions League medals with Madrid.
The movie has already been shown in cinemas in Navas’ home country, and…