Preview: Ecuador vs. Costa Rica - prediction, team news, lineups

La Tri were victorious last time out against fellow South American opposition, whilst Costa Rica narrowly lost to Guatemala as pressure continues to pile on their head coach.

Match preview

Ecuador began their June internationals with a victory this weekend after narrowly defeating out-of-form Bolivia at Red Bull Arena in New Jersey, with striker Enner Valencia scoring the game's only goal.

La Tri have lost only one of their three games since exiting last year's World Cup, although a 3-1 defeat against Australia in March was not the best way to respond to heartbreak in Qatar.

All attention now turns to preparation for qualification for the 2026 World Cup, with CONMEBOL's lengthy process to determine their representatives for the tournament starting in September.

These two sides have actually met at the World Cup back in 2006 - La Tri were 3-0 winners that day in Germany to start their group-stage campaign with maximum points.

Costa Rica suffered an embarrassing defeat on Friday against Guatemala, with Carlos Mejia's sixth-minute strike enough to earn the win for the hosts.

Having failed to make it into the CONCACAF Nations League last four after losing to Panama at the end of March, supporters are beginning to question if Luis Fernando Suarez is the right man to lead the team into the upcoming CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Los Ticos will face off against Panama and El Salvador in the group stage of the Gold Cup, and they will have to find some form quickly if they are to battle the likes of USA and Mexico for the title.

Costa Rica's last win came back in March against Martinique, with goals from Anthony Contreras and Aaron Suarez completing a comeback in Fort-de-France.

Ecuador friendly form:

L

W

W

Ecuador form (all competitions):

W

D

L

L

W

W

Costa Rica friendly form:

L

Costa Rica form (all competitions):

L

W

L

W

L

L

Team News

Ecuador will be without the services of Piero Hincapie in this one after the centre-back broke his ankle against Bolivia - the defender is expected back in action in October.

Robert Arboleda is likely to replace the Bayer Leverkusen man in the XI, with the 31-year-old impressing this season with Sao Paulo in Brazil.

Costa Rica are set to make a host of changes to the side who lost against Guatemala last time out, meaning Aaron Suarez and Yeltsin Tejeda could be brought into the XI.

Joel Campbell is set the lead the line for Los Ticos once again in this one - the 30-year-old has scored 25 goals in his international career so far.

Ecuador possible starting lineup:

Ramirez; Torres, Pacho, Arboleda; Hurtado, Guezo, Caicedo, Estupinan; Plata, Campana, Franco

Costa Rica possible starting lineup:

Chamorro; Martinez, Vargas, Watson, Calvo, Zuniga; Suarez, Tedeja, Ramirez, Alcocer; Campbell

We say: Ecuador 1-0 Costa Rica

Ecuador will be looking to build on their success over Bolivia last time out and should be confident of recording a win against Costa Rica in this one.

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