Cultural Sidebar #2 - Soccer in Costa Rica

Sports take up at least 50% of the real estate in my brain, so this piece has been a long time coming. As many of you probably already know and/or expected, the sports landscape in Costa Rica is dominated by soccer. Costa Rica advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2014 Men’s World Cup, something that Ticos are extremely proud of and won’t let you forget. 

Costa Rica’s professional soccer league is also one of the best and most sophisticated domestic leagues in Central America. Known as the Primera División, there are twelve teams in Costa Rica’s top flight division. Costa Rica also has a second-tier league, known as the Liga de Ascenso. Each season, the worst team from the top flight is relegated to the second division, while the best second division team earns promotion into the top flight. Unlike many other domestic leagues around the world, Costa Rican professional soccer contests two seasons per year. There’s a season from July to December known as the Torneo de Apertura, and one called Torneo de Clausura, which takes place from January to May. During each season, all twelve teams play each other twice, once at home and once on the road. After these 22 matches, or the "Fase Regular", the top 4 teams advance to a double-legged semifinal known as the "Fase Final". The winner who emerges from the Fase Final round earns a spot in the "Gran Final" championship while the winner of the Fase Regular is automatically guaranteed, at minimum, a spot in the Gran Final, regardless of their performance in the Fase Final. However, if the team who wins the Fase Regular and the Fase Final is the same, then there is no Gran Final championship, they are crowned champion. But, if the winners of the Fase Regular and Fase Final are different, then the winner of the Gran Final between those teams is considered champion. Because both the Apertura and Clausura occur each year, that means up to two teams can claim a domestic title each calendar year. If this process seems complicated, that's because it is. Even Ticos complain that the system is flawed and that they simply play more games to make more money.

Within the Primera División, there is a particularly large rivalry between two teams - Saprissa and Alajuelense. Saprissa is based in San Jose, the capital, while Alajuelense (also known as “Liga”) is from nearby Alajuela. There are certainly fans of other professional teams in Costa Rica, but nearly every Tico has a stated preference between either Liga or Saprissa. During my first three months of Peace Corps training, I stayed with a host family in Escazú. My Escazú host family supports Liga, so naturally I adopted them as my team too while I was there. I’m way too loyal to switch teams now. My support for Liga has become a pretty big part of my identity here in Costa Rica. Every day at school, I am inevitably asked two questions by students: “Do you like Liga or Saprissa?” and “Messi or Ronaldo?”. Each time the two teams play, the match is called “El Clásico Nacional”, which draws inspiration from Spain’s “El Clásico” between Barcelona and Real Madrid. Currently, Liga is in first place in the Primera División standings for the Torneo de Apertura, although Saprissa beat them last week.

Costa Rica’s national soccer team, known as La Sele or Los Ticos, is very strong. They’ve qualified for 5 of the last 6 World Cups, highlighted by the aforementioned quarterfinal appearance in 2014. The generation that brought that success is starting to fade from the lineup, meaning that Costa Rica’s team is currently full of younger developing players. However, Costa Rica’s soccer tradition and its domestic league are so strong that the team should still see success going forward. In fact, I think the odds are incredibly high that Costa Rica qualifies for the next World Cup in 2026. Because that tournament is co-hosted by the US, Mexico, and Canada, those 3 teams receive automatic qualification. This means that CONCACAF, or North America, has three spots remaining. Outside of the three teams that have already punched their tickets, Costa Rica undoubtedly has the most pedigree for international soccer in the region. Barring a massive surprise, Costa Rica should grab one of the three remaining CONCACAF slots for the 2026 World Cup. 

Overall, Ticos are very passionate about their soccer. I don’t necessarily gravitate towards soccer as much as I do towards certain other sports like baseball, football, or track, but I’ve loved using it as a way to connect with others here and to integrate into Costa Rica. I’m looking forward to learning even more about the beautiful game and hopefully jumping into some matches while I’m here.