MIAMI – The Final Round of the Concacaf Qualifiers to the 2026 FIFA World Cup continues with Nicaragua hosting Costa Rica on Friday in Group C at Estadio Nacional de Fútbol in Managua, Nicaragua.

Nicaragua gears up for its first appearance in the Final Round, becoming the fifth Central American team to achieve the milestone. La Azul y Blanco secured its Final Round berth with a second-place finish in Group D in the Second Round, amassing nine points and a 3-0-1 record.

Costa Rica will kick off its 12th Final Round appearance with the goal of qualifying for a FIFA World Cup for a seventh time, after appearing in the past three editions (2014, 2018 and 2022). Los Ticos advanced to the Final Round by winning Group B in the Second Round with 12 points and a perfect 4-0-0 record.

Additionally, Costa Rica enters with an 11-match unbeaten streak in the Qualifiers, 10 wins, one draw, having won eight consecutive games and matching its best-ever winning streak between 2008 and 2009.


The meeting will be the first between the Central American nations in World Cup Qualifiers and 19th overall in their history. Costa Rica leads the series with 17 wins, while another encounter resulted in a draw.

All-Time series 

Nicararagua and Costa Rica they will face each other for the first time in FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.

Overall, it will be the 19th meeting in history across all competitions, with Costa Rica dominating the series with 17 wins and 1 draw.

In the last five matches, Costa Rica has recorded five wins and one draw — a 0-0 tie on January 17, 2017, in the 2017 UNCAF Cup (qualifiers for the 2017 Concacaf Gold Cup), held at Rommel Fernández Stadium in Panama City (PAN).

Nicaragua has won 3 of its last 4 matches in the qualifiers.

This will be Nicaragua’s 14th match against Central American opponents in the qualifiers, having lost 11 and won only 2. The most recent win came on June 8, 2024, with a 0-4 victory over Belize on Matchday 3 of Group D in Round 2 at the FFB Field in Belmopan (BLZ), with goals from Bancy Hernández (2), Juan Barrera, and Jaime Moreno.

Costa Rica enters with an 11-match unbeaten streak in the qualifiers, with 10 wins and 1 draw — their longest such streak in history. Additionally, they have won 8 consecutive games, matching their best-ever winning streak set between 2008 (7) and 2009 (1).

Nicaragua will play in the Final Round of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers for the first time in its history, becoming the 5th Central American team to achieve this milestone, leaving Belize as the only one yet to reach this phase.

Costa Rica is making its 12th appearance in the Final Round of qualifiers, dating back to Chile 1962 (2nd place, eliminated), England 1966 (2nd place, eliminated), Mexico 1986 (3rd place, eliminated), Italy 1990 (qualified for the first time), France 1998 (4th place, eliminated), Korea & Japan 2002 (1st place, qualified for the second time), Germany 2006 (3rd place, qualified for the third time), South Africa 2010 (4th place, Play-in, eliminated by Uruguay 1-2 on aggregate), Brazil 2014 (2nd, qualified), Russia 2018 (2nd place, qualified), and Qatar 2022 (4th place, qualified after winning the single-leg Play-in against New Zealand).

Top scorers for Nicaragua (all phases): Juan Barrera (6), Raúl Leguías (5).

Top scorers for Costa Rica in the Final Round: Paulo César Wanchope (10), Bryan Ruíz (8), Álvaro Saborío (8).

All-Time series:

18 matches

0 wins Nicaragua, 10 goals

1 draw

17 wins Costa Rica, 73 goals