Costa Rica closes its Concacaf Nations League group stage tonight against Haiti, and a national team that went nearly a year without a win will play in front of an almost full stadium. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. at Estadio Ricardo Saprissa in Tibás. The change in mood is largely down to Bryan Ruiz. The former national team captain took over as interim coach after the federation fired Fernando Batista, and his first match on Thursday ended in a 3-0 win over Nicaragua in Managua.
That result was Costa Rica’s first victory of the year and ticket sales picked up quickly afterward, and only a small number of seats remained as of Saturday afternoon. Ruiz thanked supporters on the eve of the match. He said he believed the effort to give the team a different look was what had motivated fans to fill the stadium, and he asked them to bring the same energy tonight.
The match is being played in Tibás instead of the National Stadium in La Sabana because a concert is scheduled there. It will also bring goalkeeper Keylor Navas back to Saprissa, his former club’s home ground, for an official match for the first time in more than 16 years. Costa Rica can no longer advance to the next round. The campaign opened with a 4-3 home loss to Curaçao, in which La Sele let slip a 3-0 halftime lead, followed by a 2-0 defeat to Haiti in Jamaica. Those results also cost Costa Rica six places in the FIFA ranking.
What remains at stake is Costa Rica’s place in League A, the competition’s top tier. Tonight’s result will decide whether the team finishes high enough in the group to avoid dropping into League B. Haiti arrives with more to play for as the Caribbean side is still fighting Curaçao for first place in the group and has already beaten Costa Rica once in this tournament.
Ruiz will be without Josimar Méndez, who is suspended after picking up two yellow cards, and Roan Wilson, who was injured against Nicaragua. On Friday he called up Ronald Matarrita and Anthony Hernández of Alajuelense and Mayron George of Sporting FC. The bigger question is what happens after the final whistle as Ruiz has described tonight as his last game in charge for the moment and said he will not begin weighing his future until Monday.
He has also said he is not sure this is the right time for him to coach the national team. Still, he acknowledged that the way national team work is organized leaves a small opening for him to stay on. The federation has said it will decide after this window whether to keep Ruiz or begin a search for a permanent coach to lead the team toward the 2030 World Cup. A second straight win would make that conversation harder to avoid.
The match airs live in Costa Rica on Repretel Channel 6 and Teletica Channel 7. Whatever the result, tonight closes a short interim spell that has already changed the conversation around a team that only days ago looked adrift.
