World Cup Qualifier Preview: USA & Costa Rica Face-Off In New York

The men’s USA national soccer team will face off against Costa Rica’s national team on Friday in the Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, the first major soccer game of consequence to be played in the New York metropolitan area.

USA vs costa Rica preview

Tomorrow’s match is the one of four remaining World Cup qualifier games the USA team has left to play. If victorious against Costa Rica, the US has a 96 percent chance of reaching the World Cup, which takes place in Russia during the summer of 2018. If the team loses, their chance of making the soccer tournament drop to about 80 percent, according to ESPN.

US coach, Bruce Arena, was hired after the national team lost the first two games of the Hex Round of the qualifying tournament.

“We’ve worked real hard to position ourselves to be in a position to qualify for the 2018 World Cup,” Arena told reporters during a press conference on Tuesday.

The US and Costa Rica have proven to be pretty evenly matched opponents in the past. This match will be the 37th time the two teams have played each other. The all-time series is tied, 15-15-6. Nonetheless, the US holds a 15-5-4 record when playing Costa Rica at home. Most recently, the US team beat their rivals in last month’s Gold Cup semifinals.

Here’s everything you need to know about Friday’s match up:

Game: USA vs. Costa Rica

Stadium: Red Bull Arena, Harrison, New Jersey

Date: Sep. 1, 2017

Time: 6:00 pm EST

Channel: ESPN, Univision

Article by Jacob Kaye