Costa Rica at Chile 11/16/18 - International Friendly Picks & Predictions

Chile suffered a lot of hiccups in the World Cup Qualifiers and were eventually left out of the big event this summer. They have been trying to create a competitive side for the upcoming Copa America next summer, and have been playing a ton of friendlies. This time around they will play host to Costa Rica on Friday. Costa Rica were not very good in the World Cup and have also struggled in their latest friendlies.

Chile were really bad in the World Cup Qualifiers, especially on the road and finished at the 6th spot (8-8-2) that caused them to miss out on the World Cup. They are trying to build a mix of their top stars like Vidal, Sanchez, Isla and Medel, along with a lot of talented youngsters. They have played eight friendlies after the World Cup qualifiers and have won 3 in the process (3-2-3). Chile won over Serbia, Mexico and Sweden, lost to Peru and Romania and drew against Poland, Denmark and South Korea. These were all really competitive friendlies and Chile are poised to create a strong squad for the 2019 Copa America, having won each of the last two editions. Costa Rica actually did a really good job in the World Cup Qualifiers last year, where they finished at the 2nd spot of their group with a solid 4-2-4 record. They didn’t make good use of their World Cup ticket though, and how could they in a group that also featured Brazil, Switzerland and Serbia. They failed to score in their first two matches as they fell to Serbia and Brazil, but managed to leave with their heads up high after a 2-2 draw against Switzerland. Costa Rica have played four exhibition matches ever since, all on the road and all resulting in losses. They failed to score against South Korea and Japan but were really competitive in the 2-3 loss to Mexico (took the lead twice) and in the 1-3 loss to Colombia (conceded two late goals).