The final football match in Group B of the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup required both teams to win. The lackluster performance of the National Football Teams of Costa Rica and Canada in the initial stage of the Gold Cup forced them to seek victory in their last match. The pressure was on La Sele to win their first international match of 2015; meanwhile, Canada needed to win in order to advance to the knockout stage of the Gold Cup.

As co-host of the Gold Cup along with the United States, the Canadian National Team had home pitch advantage for this match, which took place at the BMO Field in Toronto and was nearly sold out.

The match started with Costa Rica keeping control of the ball and keeping the Canadian players away from the box. In the first 20 minutes, Costa Rica launched five dangerous attacks against three even more dangerous attacks by Canada. Although goalkeeper Kiriakos Stamatopoulus got a bit of a workout in the first 30 minutes, Esteban Alvarado was forced to perform a couple of spectacular saves.

Costa Rica’s possession during the first half was feeble. The incursions into the Canadian box were mostly launched by means of long passes kicked by the back line to strikers Johan Venegas, David Ramirez and Deyver Vega. World Cup veterans Celso Borges and Bryan Ruiz were not able to do much in the midfield; in fact, Canada’s most dangerous plays were in the first half were counterattacks caused by midfield passes intercepted by Julian De Guzmán and Jonathan Osorio, who were very active in the first half.

The second half was livelier. Costa Rica was more offensive after the substitution of Deyver Vega for Joel Campbell. Canada was staunchly defensive, but the pressure to win the match made their counterattacks more dangerous. In fact, Marcus Haber was called offside in a controversial play that could have resulted in the first goal for Canada in this tournament.

The poor officiating of the match affected its outcome. Aside from the questionable offside called by the sideline referee, there were many egregious fouls by both teams that should have been penalized with a yellow card. Near the end of the second half, striker Joel Campbell was clearly tackled and pushed down inside the Canadian box during one of his many incursions; alas, no penalty kick was awarded.

In the end, none of the teams scored. This tied match gave Costa Rica the opportunity to advance to the knockout stage, but La Sele is no longer the favorite team to win the Gold Cup; after all, this is a team that has not won a single match in 2015.