Costa Rica vs. Germany: 2022 World Cup Odds and Prediction

Jordan Ramsay
November 30, 2022

The bottom two teams in Group E at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar are set to meet in the final group stage match, with a chance to advance to the round of 16 very much still in play for both teams. After an upset loss to open the tournament, Germany kept their World Cup hopes alive with a 1-1 draw against Spain. Costa Rica was blown out by Spain in their first match, but a 1-0 victory over Japan has put their World Cup destiny in their own hands.

Germany is a heavy -1088 favourite to win on the World Cup odds, while Costa Rica sits at +1700 and a draw is +900.

Germany -1009
Draw +900
Costa Rica +1300

Costa Rica vs. Germany Betting Odds

These teams have met just once previously when Germany hosted the World Cup in 2006. Germany dumped Costa Rica 4-2 in the first match of the group stage en route to a third place finish in the tournament.

Costa Rica is +460 to open the scoring on Thursday. Anthony Contreras is +2200 to score the match’s first goal and +620 as an anytime scorer. Los Ticos have the longest odds of teams not officially eliminated to win the World Cup at +50,000. They also have the longest odds to win Group E at +1326.

Germany is -909 to score first on Thursday. Niclas Fullkrug is the favourite to score first at +400 and he sits at -120 as an anytime scorer. Die Mannschaft is +1053 to win a fifth World Cup trophy, which would tie them with Brazil for the most of any country.

Costa Rica

After a seven-goal beatdown from Spain in their tournament opening match, Costa Rica bounced backed admirably with a 1-0 win against Japan on a strike from Keysher Fuller in the 81st minute. That first loss, however, is costly because the first tiebreaker in the group stage is goal differential. Costa Rica and Japan both have three points, but Japan is ahead on goal differential and sits second in the group standings, while Costa Rica sits third. Spain leads Group E with four points and Germany is at the bottom with one point. Group E is still wide open heading into the final group stage match.

Essentially Costa Rica needs to win to guarantee a spot in the round of 16, although a draw could also get them there. Los Ticos will have to punch their ticket to the knockout round without the help of centre-back Francisco Calvo, however, as he picked up his second booking of the tournament against Japan and will serve a suspension against Germany.

Germany

It’s pretty simple math for Germany on Thursday as anything short of a win eliminates them in the group stage for a second straight World Cup after last winning it all in 2014. It would be another shocking tournament exit for a team that made it to the knockout round in every World Cup until 2018. Germany’s eight World Cup final appearances are the most of any country and there’s immense pressure for them to succeed.

One thing to keep in mind for Die Mannschaft on Thursday is, if Japan and Spain play to a draw, Germany will need to beat Costa Rica by at least two goals to advance and if Japan shocks Spain and wins, Germany needs to win by at least five to move on in the tournament. Germany’s offence will be very aggressive as they need to win and win big. Some help could be on the way as Leroy Sane returned from a knee injury to play as a substitute against Spain and could factor in more heavily against Costa Rica.