| Event | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Date | 14 June 2022 (2022-06-14) | ||||||
| Venue | Ahmad bin Ali Stadium,Al Rayyan, Qatar | ||||||
| Referee | Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohamed (United Arab Emirates)[1] | ||||||
| Attendance | 10,803[2] | ||||||
| Weather | Fair 31 °C (88 °F) 84%humidity[3] | ||||||
The2022 FIFA World Cup qualificationCONCACAF–OFC play-off was a single-leg match between the fourth-placed team of theCONCACAF qualification third round,Costa Rica, and the winners from theOFC qualification,New Zealand. Before their identity was known, the winners of the play-off had already been allocated toGroup E at the World Cup.[4]
The match was played on 14 June 2022 at theAhmad bin Ali Stadium inAl Rayyan, Qatar. Costa Rica won the match 1–0 to qualify for the2022 FIFA World Cup.
The draw for the inter-confederation play-offs fixtures was held on 26 November 2021.[5]
The teams had met once, a friendly won 4–0 by Costa Rica at theEstadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá inSan José on 24 March 2007.[6][7] Current Costa Rican captainBryan Ruiz, then 21 years old, scored a goal and gave an assist in that match. He is also the only player from that match to remain active with his national team. Current New Zealand coachDanny Hay also played in that match.[8]
The match was the second inter-confederation play-off for Costa Rica, having previously lost 1–2 on aggregate toUruguay in2009. Since the OFC had no direct qualification spots, New Zealand reached the intercontinental play-offs for the fourth consecutive time, winningthe first (againstBahrain in 2009) and losing the remaining two (againstMexico in 2013 andagainstPeru in 2017).[9]
Costa Rica had a complicated start of the qualifying process. During the first half of theCONCACAF qualification third round, Costa Rica stood fifth at only six points out of twenty-one, five points behindPanama, then the fourth-placed team.[10] The second half of the round began on 16 November 2021; that night, as Costa Rica was drawing a home match againstHonduras, their gap against the Panamanians almost increased to seven points;[11] however, a late goal byGerson Torres gave a crucial victory for theTicos, who from then onwards enrolled in an unprecedented comeback, with six victories and one draw that saw them overtaking Panama, endingCanada's undefeated streak, and finishing fourth of the table, with only the goal difference preventing them to overtake theUnited States for the third place.[12][10][13]
Marked by several delays due to effects of theCOVID-19 pandemic such astravel restrictions that national teams couldn't be able to travel in those countries, the OFC qualification round announced the tournament scheduled to be held in Qatar (host country of the World Cup) in March 2022.[14] New Zealand won the tournament and qualified to the play-off match against the fourth-placed team of the CONCACAF qualification third round, who was unknown at the time.[15]
The group stage draw of the World Cup took place on 1 April 2022, leaving the CONCACAF–OFC play-off winners allocated inGroup E, alongsideSpain,Japan, andGermany.[4] Later, in May, FIFA revealed the stadium that would host both theAFC vs CONMEBOL and CONCACAF vs OFC play-off matches: theAhmad bin Ali Stadium inAl Rayyan, Qatar.[16] The winners of the CONCACAF vs OFC play-off match would return to the stadium at the World Cup to face Japan on 27 November.[17]
| City | Stadium | Location of the host city of the match. |
|---|---|---|
| Al Rayyan (Doha Area) | Ahmad bin Ali Stadium | |
 |  | |
| Capacity: 45,032 | ||
Three minutes into the match,Joel Campbell received a cross fromJewison Bennette to score the lone goal.[18] At the 39th minute,Chris Wood scored a goal after a poor clearance byYeltsin Tejeda. However, his goal was nullified as thevideo assistant referee (VAR) showed thatMatthew Garbett had fouledÓscar Duarte prior to the goal.[19] The VAR was also used at the 69th minute, afterKosta Barbarouses, who had been subbed in just nine minutes prior, tackledFrancisco Calvo's ankle. RefereeMohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohamed originally showed Barbarouses a yellow card, but after checking the VAR, Hassan changed it to a red card, leaving New Zealand down to ten men for the rest of the match.[20][21]
The refereeing caused frustration in the New Zealand team. CoachDanny Hay said that "FIFA has let us down" because of the relative inexperience of the referees compared to the European officials for theAustralia vs Peru match.[22] Former Costa Rican referee Ramón Luis Méndez considered both the goal disallowance and the red card as valid decisions, but questioned why the VAR did not check a foul byKendall Waston on Chris Wood that should have been a penalty.[23]
Costa Rica  | 1–0 |  New Zealand |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
         Costa Rica |     New Zealand |
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Man of the Match:
Keylor Navas (Costa Rica)[24]
Assistant referees:[1] | Match rules[25]
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