Just days away from the Russia World Cup 2018, experts and fans start making their predictions; Germany, Brazil, Spain, Argentina, are some of the favorites to win the World Cup; for other smaller teams it seems an almost impossible dream.

Four years ago during the Brazil World Cup, Costa Rica surprised the world by making it to the quarter finals; for many critics, it was luck, but in reality, many factors played in favor of the Costa Rica National Soccer team, a well prepared group of players that had been playing internationally for several years, where at their prime, motivated and with a good strategy established by their team of coaches.

Four years later, the conditions are different. Better or worse? Depends on who you ask.

For instance, Electronic Arts’ FIFA 18 football simulation video game ran a simulation of the World Cup tournament from the group stage all the way through to the final, and according to the results Costa Rica won’t make it past the Round of 16. This system predicts France will win the World Cup.

An article posted just a few days ago by Fifa.com, titled “Four reasons why Tico lightning could strike twice”, the author states that “it would be a big mistake to write off the hopes of the valiant Ticos”; the four reasons given are: 1. Players know year other inside out 2. Valuable Experience 3. The best keeper in the world? 4. Historical precedents.

“La Sele” didn’t have a memorable performance during the qualification stages of the World Cup, and many are concerned that head coach Oscar Ramirez may be depending too much on the main line up, which means the team lacks the elements to innovate and offer different game plans to face different opponents. The conditions in Russia will also be very different from playing in Brazil.

However, Costa Rica does have one of the top 3 best goalies in the world, if not the best, experienced players and above all, hungry players with a lot of heart and a whole country behind them.

How far will Costa Rica go in the Russia World Cup? We will soon find out; whatever happens, millions of Ticos will be watching and supporting the team as of this Sunday when they play the last international friendly match in Costa Rica before leaving to Europe.

The official debut of La Sele will be in Group E on June 17 in the city of Samara against Serbia, with a match against Brazil in Saint Petersburg on Friday the 22nd and the final game of the round robin on Wednesday the 27th against Switzerland in the Nizhny Novgorod stadium.

In a video produced by the Costa Rican Tourism Board (ICT), the President of the Republic, Carlos Alvarado, wearing the jersey of La Roja, gave an emotional message of support and national unity to members of the national team that will represent the country at the 2018 Soccer World Cup in Russia

“I also want to thank you because with every play, every kick, every goal, you bring us closer together as a country. We are hoping for a great performance at this World Cup”, said Carlos Alvarado in the video,