soccer
Why was Costa Rica’s pre-World Cup friendly against Iraq cancelled?
Costa Rica had been due to take on Iraq in their last warm-up game before the start of the 2022 World Cup
The Costa Rica national team will not be able play their last pre-2022 World Cup friendly because of a passport issue. Keylor Navas and company were due to face off against Iraq in a warm-up game ahead of the tournament on Thursday at Basra International Stadium in the Western Asian country.
However, the match has been cancelled due to the fact that the Iraqi government were insisting on stamping the passports of the Costa Rica delegation as they attempted to enter the country from their base in Kuwait, which was not part of the original agreement when the match was scheduled. Were individuals’ passports to be stamped, their entry to other countries would be conditioned by political security issues.
The game in Iraq would have been Costa Rica’s second 2022 World Cup warm-up game after they defeated Nigeria 2-0 in San José last week. This will be Los Ticos’ sixth participation in the competition, with their best performance coming on their debut in 1990, when they reached the round of 16.
Costa Rica’s 2022 World Cup Group E schedule
Luis Fernando Suárez and his team kick off their World Cup campaign on Wednesday, 23 November against Spain at the Al-Thumma Stadium in Doha.
Wednesday, 23 November – Costa Rica v Spain
Sunday, 27 November – Costa Rica v Japan
Thursday, 1 December – Costa Rica v Germany