Costa Rica and its great CONMEBOL Copa América™ run in 2001
2024-04-19
- The Ticos shone in the 40th edition of the tournament which was held in Colombia. Their journey would lead them all the way to the quarterfinals.
- It was Los Tico’s second time ever participating in Copa América™.
In 2001, Costa Rica was invited to compete in the CONMEBOL Copa América™. Previously, they had participated in 1997, but failed to advance past the group stage.
Under the direction of Brazilian Alexandre Guimarães, Costa Rica was placed in Group C alongside Uruguay, Bolivia and Honduras, and the team started the tournament with a 1-0 victory over Honduras. The goal was scored by one of their most important players: Paulo Wanchope.
In the second match, the Ticos faced Uruguay and ended up drawing 1-1, with another goal from Wanchope.
The group stage concluded with a 4-0 victory over Bolivia, with Wanchope scoring twice along with goals from Steven Bryce and Rolando Fonseca. They finished top of Group C and advanced to the quarterfinals of the oldest national team tournament in the world.
There, Costa Rica once again faced Uruguay (who had advanced as the best third-placed team in the group stages). Los Ticos took the lead thanks to another goal from Wanchope, but La Celeste managed to turn it around with goals from Rodrigo Lemos and Pablo Lima to win 1-2.
With the help of their two all-time top scorers (Fonseca and Wanchope), Costa Rica managed to advance past the group stage of the CONMEBOL Copa América™ for the first time and would later qualify for a FIFA World Cup for the second time in their history in 2002.
Additionally, Wanchope finished second in the 2001 edition of the tournament’s top scorer table, only behind Colombian Víctor Aristizábal.
In the following CONMEBOL Copa América™, held in Peru in 2004, Costa Rica once again reached the quarterfinals. In their subsequent appearances in 2011 and 2016, Los Ticos did not surpass the group stage.
Costa Rica will play in its sixth CONMEBOL Copa América™ and dream of once again being a major player in the tournament. There are still tickets available for their matches against Brazil, Colombia, and Paraguay.