Costa Rica became the final team to book their place in the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Joel Campbell’s early goal ensured that Costa Rica will be at the World Cup for a third successive time as they edged past 10-man New Zealand 1-0 in their intercontinental playoff.
The playoff between the fourth-placed team in the CONCACAF region and the Oceania confederation winner also brought an end to the qualifying campaign for the 2022 finals in Qatar, which run from Nov. 21-Dec. 18 with Australia and Costa Rica as the final entries.
The former Arsenal striker scored after three minutes, squeezing between two defenders to touch home a square pass from Jewison Bennette with the New Zealand defense slow to react.
New Zealand had an equalizer chalked off by VAR for a foul in the build-up to Chris Wood putting the ball in the back of the net in the 39th minute. Matthew Garbett was found to have fouled Oscar Duarte in what looked like a harsh decision.
A VAR check also led to a 69th-minute red card for Kosta Barbarouses, leaving the Kiwis down to 10 men.
Campbell’s early goal did not precipitate a dominant performance from the central American team instead it was New Zealand who looked the more enterprising of the teams, with center-forward Wood the focal point of their attacks.
Despite their best efforts, they could not find a way past goalkeeper Kaylor Navas as Costa Rica sat back and absorbed the pressure until the final whistle set off the celebrations.
Costa Rica’s reward for qualifying for a sixth World Cup in total was being grouped with Germany, Japan, and Spain in Group E.
