Costa Rica World Cup squad guide: Full fixtures, group, ones to watch, odds and more

PROFILE: With the tournament only days away we take an in-depth look at all 32 teams in Russia

Costa Rica caught the attention of the world when they qualified ahead of England in the 2014 World Cup and produced their best ever tournament finish by advancing to the quarter-finals. After heroically beating Uruguay, Italy and drawing with England, Costa Rica were through to the round of 16 for first time since 1990. Bryan Ruiz put Costa Rica into the lead against Greece but Sokratis Papastathopoulos’s goal in added time took the match to extra time, and then a penalty shoot-out. Costa Rica were victorious in the shoot-out against Greece but were on the losing side of penalties when they lost to a rampant Netherlands in the quarter-final.

As a result of his World Cup, which included being nominated for the Golden Glove Award only to lose out to Manuel Neuer, Keylor Navas secured a transfer to Real Madrid where he was to become their number one goalkeeper.

Costa Rica are viewing their 2014 success as a springboard for further World Cup glory to come and will not want to be considered as underdogs.

Fixtures

Costa Rica vs Serbia – 13:00, Sunday 17 June
Brazil vs Costa Rica – 13:00, Friday 22 June
Switzerland vs Costa Rica – 19:00, Wednesday 27 June

Key players

Kaylor Navas: A little known Levante goalkeeper became a star and a role model in Costa Rica after being named man of the match against Greece after making several sensational saves in normal time, before saving a decisive penalty in the shoot-out. Navas is beginning to look shaky in goal at Real Madrid and made high-profile errors in the Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich. He is a very good goalkeeper, but deep down there are errors within in.

Real Madrid's Navas will need to be at his best (AFP/Getty Images)

Bryan Ruiz: Everyone’s favourite Fulham workaholic, Bryan Ruiz is Costa Rica’s most inspirational playmaker and one of their star men at the 2014 World Cup. After spending four years in west-London, Ruiz has settled at Sporting Lisbon where he has become a key player.

Joel Campbell: Amazingly, Joel Campbell has been contacted to Arsenal since 2011 but has been on loan to six different clubs during the last seven years. Campbell was an important attacking player for Costa Rica in Brazil, scoring against Uruguay and successfully converting his penalty in the shoot-out against Greece.

Ones to watch

Ian Smith: Perhaps not the most Costa Rican name, however his name could one day be held in very high regards by the football fans. With just one cap, Smith, 20, was a left-field choice in the squad, but the pacey right back has experience, representing his country at under-17 and under-20 World Cups.

How did they get here?

Costa Rica topped their first qualifying group ahead of Panama, Haiti and Jamaica without losing, then continued their form to finish second behind Mexico in the final table and qualify for a consecutive World Cup.

How will they do?

Ahead of the Brazil World Cup nobody would have given Costa Rica a hope of qualifying from a group with England, Italy and Uruguay, but they did. This time their group is slightly easier but the size of the task remains large. Reaching the round of 16, and a probable date with Germany, may be the best they can do.

Odds on Costa Rica winning the World Cup: 300/1

Squad

Goalkeepers: Keylor Navas, Patrick Pemberton, Leonel Moreira.

Defenders: Cristian Gamboa, Ian Smith, Ronald Matarrita, Bryan Oviedo, Oscar Duarte, Giancarlo Gonzalez, Francisco Calvo, Kendall Waston, Johnny Acosta.

Midfielders: David Guzman, Yeltsin Tejeda, Celso Borges, Randall Azofeifa, Rodney Wallace, Bryan Ruiz, Daniel Colindres, Christian Bolanos.

Forwards: Johan Venegas, Joel Campbell, Marco Urena.