Copa America

2024-06-24 - Brazil vs Costa Rica

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

Brazil v Costa Rica
Football: Copa America 2024 Group D
Monday 24th June 2024 - Kick Off 6pm
British Time: 2am

Brazil

The poor start to the World Cup Qualifiers have really brought some pressure onto the shoulders of the Brazil national team squad. Inconsistent results over the last three months have really tempered the enthusiasm for this group of players and what they can achieve in the United States this summer, although that may also prove to be a real motivation for those wearing the famous yellow shirt.

Twenty-two years have passed since Brazil last won the World Cup and that is never going to be acceptable for a nation that believes they should be winning every time they compete. The Quarter Final defeats in 2018 and 2022 have been massively disappointing, while Brazil have 'only' won the Copa America once in the last five runnings of the competition, while the Final defeat in a tournament hosted by the Brazilians in 2021 will have hurt.

Brazil are 6th in the World Cup Qualifying Group after losing 3 in a row to Uruguay, Colombia and Argentina. They are unbeaten in 4 international friendlies since the home defeat to Argentina, but wins over England and Mexico have been mixed with draws against Spain and United States.

Neymar is the stand out name missing for Brazil as he continues to recover from a serious injury. Lucas Paqueta is in the squad despite facing a potential long suspension from football, while Vinicius Jr is yet to bring his club form onto the international stage.

Costa Rica

The run to the World Cup Quarter Final in 2014 is the high point of Costa Rican Football, but they have suffered Group Stage exits in 2018 and 2022. A win over Honduras earned Costa Rica a berth at the expanded Copa America, but this is a nation that has fallen behind a number of others within their own Confederation and earning passage out of this Group would be a massive achievement.

They have suffered three straight eliminations at the Quarter Final Stage in the Gold Cup, while Costa Rica did not reach the Semi Final Round of either of the last two Nations League. With the co-hosts of the next World Cup Finals all earning direct entry into the tournament, Costa Rica will be expected to Qualify for the next World Cup even if they have slipped from the standards they had been producing a decade ago.

Costa Rica have won a couple of World Cup Qualifiers played this month, while the goalless draw in the international friendly played against Uruguay before those has to be respected. They have only lost 1 of their last 6 games ahead of the opening match at the 2024 Copa America, but Costa Rica were crushed 6-1 on aggregate by Panama in the Nations League Quarter Final played in November.

Francisco Calvo and Joel Campbell have both earned a huge amount of international caps and will offer their experience to other members of the squad. However, none of the other squad players have more than twenty-seven international caps and that inexperience is a potential issue.

Head to Head

Brazil beat Costa Rica 2-0 in the 2018 World Cup Group Stage and that is the last time these nations have faced each other.

Brazil have won 9 in a row against Costa Rica and that includes a couple of victories in the Copa America.

Prediction

They will head to the United States as second favourites in the outright market, but Brazil look extremely vulnerable in that position.

For starters they are in a much tougher half of the draw with the likes of Uruguay and Colombia looking genuine threats, but Brazil may feel they can work their way into the tournament.

Opening up with Costa Rica should benefit a squad that have something to prove after erratic results over the last several months. The 1-1 draw with United States in an international friendly has brought plenty of criticism and Brazil will be keen to make a strong start.

Costa Rica may feel they have nothing to lose, but this is a relatively inexperienced squad and that could show up in the tournament.

These days Costa Rica look to be some way behind the likes of United States, Mexico and even Canada and Panama within the Confederation and that makes them the weakest looking of the four team Group. Having nothing to lose may allow Costa Rica to express themselves, but Brazil's quality and strength should mean they can beat this opponent for the tenth time in succession.

Brazil will likely want to make this as comfortable as possible by not giving anything away and putting themselves under pressure. It could lead to a victory with a clean sheet before tougher tests against Paraguay and Colombia within the section.