Costa Rica vs Paraguay

Q2 Stadium in Texas is the venue as Costa Rica and Paraguay go head-to-head in a bottom-half 2024 Copa America Group D encounter.

Costa Rica’s chances of progressing past the Copa America group stages for the first time since 2004 are in tatters following a 3-0 thrashing at the hands of Colombia last time out. A gutsy 0-0 draw against Brazil in their curtain-raising Group D fixture keeps Los Ticos in contention for an unlikely quarter-final qualification. However, they’d probably have to beat Paraguay via a multi-goal margin to pip Brazil to a runner-up finish. Gustavo Alfaro’s men are no strangers to such heights, as each of their three previous H2H wins has yielded margins of at least two goals (W3, D3, L3). Against this backdrop, Costa Rica’s scoreless showings against Brazil and Colombia have extended their barren run of failing to find the net in five of their last six Copa America matches.

Meanwhile, after two consecutive Copa America knockout appearances, Paraguay will go home early this summer. Defeats to Colombia (1-2) and Brazil (1-4) ensured Daniel Garnero’s men became the second nation to crash out of the United States-held tournament after Jamaica. Paraguay’s notoriously underwhelming first-half performances have seen them 2-0 and 3-0 down at halftime, respectively, in their opening two Group D outings. More unwanted history beckons in Austin as Los Guaranies risk losing all three Copa America group-stage fixtures for the first time since 1925. Writings are on the wall, with the Paraguayans netting under 1.5 goals in 11 consecutive matches since a 2-0 friendly win against Nicaragua in June 2023!