Luis Hernandez (red jersey) is one of three players to be on the field for every minute of Costa Rica's 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup campaign. (Photo: FIFA via Getty Images)

PUERTO MONTT, Chile – The last time a national team from Costa Rica reached the quarterfinals of a FIFA tournament, the Ticos had played the Netherlands to a scoreless draw before ultimately bowing out on penalty kicks at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Well, the Central American nation’s much younger prospects hope to go one better, when they square off against Belgium at the same stage in a 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup tilt on Monday.

In order to reach this lofty height, Costa Rica outlasted France, 5-3 on penalty kicks, in the Round of 16.

Head coach Marcelo Herrera couldn’t be happier about his team’s success, but he isn’t chalking it up to good fortune. Building a squad and creating an effective plan requires a strategic mindset.

“We have planned the work as a consequence of what a World Cup event means,” said the 49-year-old, who won multiple domestic and international titles as a player in his native Argentina. “We try to do it as if it was a professional team, as if they were first-division players…and they responded. They met that level and it was noticeable against a difficult opponent.”

The French came into the game as European champion, having scored four goals or more in each of their previous three outings. Defensively, Costa Rica, which had not posted a shutout in its three group games, found a way to shut down the dynamic juggernaut.

“It was a very difficult match, we knew it would be,” Herrera remarked. “France have very good players. They always try to play and we knew that we had the same chances. We knew they were a hard and difficult opponent. We won well. It had nothing to do with luck. In penalties, temperament and character count.”

With Belgium – another talented European side – waiting in the wings, Costa Rica is no mood to recount a past triumph just yet. After all, a place in the final four is there to be earned.

“I feel happy, we are among the best eight teams in the world,” finished Herrea. “This team has ambition and we are going for more. The boys did a great job, but we have nothing to celebrate yet. All the matches are difficult. Against Belgium, we are going to go with the same seriousness.”

And, perhaps, leave with another historic outcome.