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

Jordan Ramsay
November 22, 2022

Spain and Costa Rica will open their 2022 World Cup bids in Qatar on Wednesday in Group E action. La Roja has had a disappointing last two World Cups since winning it all in 2010, bowing out in the group stage in 2014 and and falling in the Round of 16 in 2018. Costa Rica didn’t make it past the group stage in 2018, but they had their best-ever result by reaching the quarter-finals in 2014.

Spain is a massive -861 favourite to win on the World Cup odds, while Costa Rica opens as a +1800 underdog. A draw is +659, while Over 2.5 goals is favoured at -161.

Spain -507
Draw +618
Costa Rica +900

Spain vs. Costa Rica Betting Odds

There’s very little history between these teams and they’ve never met in a competitive event. In three international friendlies, Spain has two wins. The teams played to a 2-2 draw in 2011 before La Roja won 2-1 in 2015 and 5-0 in 2017.

Spain is favoured to score first at -667 on Wednesday. Alvaro Borja Morata Martin is a +330 favourite to score the match’s first goal. Spain is the favourite the win Group E at -120. They’re +3900 to finish last in the group, the longest odds between Costa Rica, Japan and Germany.

Costa Rica is +460 to score first against Spain, with Anthony Daniel Contreras Enriquez and Johan Alberto Venegas each sitting at +600 to get the goal. The team comes in with easily the longest odds to win Group E at +4600, with the next closest team being Japan at +1200. That leads Costa Rica to be the favourites to finish last in the group at -206.

Team Spain

Spain enters the World Cup as the No. 7 ranked team in the world. This will be their 16th appearance in the tournament, with 2010 being their lone win. They’ve failed to qualify for the World Cup just four times since 1934 and this will be their 12th straight appearance since 1978. Spain went out on penalties in the Round of 16 against host country Russia in 2018, but they bounced back by reaching the semi-finals of the 2020 Euros and they’re expecting another long run in Qatar.

Spain qualified for Qatar by topping UEFA Group B with six wins, one draw and one loss. They had a plus-10 goal differential with Ferran Torres netting a team-high four goals. La Roja punched their ticket to the semi-finals of the UEFA Nations League with a 1-0 victory over Portgual on Sept. 27. Their last tuneup match was a 3-1 victory over Jordan on Nov. 17.

Alejandro Balde will replace Jose Gaya on the squad after Gaya suffered a sprained ankle last Wednesday. Outside of that, the team is fully healthy.

Team Costa Rica

Costa Rica is ranked No. 31 in the world. After missing out on their first eight World Cup bids, this will be their sixth World Cup appearance since their first qualification in 1990. This is Costa Rica’s third straight appearance in the tournament, with their best result being an eighth place finish in 2014. They finished the 2018 World Cup with a draw and two losses.

Costa Rica was the last team to qualify for Qatar, not clinching their spot until June 14. They received a bye to the third round of CONCACAF qualifying, finishing with seven wins, four draws and three losses. That record forced Costa Rica to officially qualify through the inter-confederation playoffs, where they beat out New Zealand 1-0. Joel Campbell finished as their top scorer in qualifying with three goals. Costa Rica’s last scheduled international friendly against Iraq on Nov. 17 was cancelled. They last played on Nov. 9, downing Nigeria 2-0.

Costa Rica is not dealing with any major injury issues.