Costa Rica vs England 24th June 5pm

Costa Rica enter the final matchday in group play with high spirits and an eye to an improbable first place finish in Group D. Entering the tournament, Costa Rica were given essentially no chance,especially in a group with three former World Cup champions. But after grabbing a shock win over a Luis Suárez-less Uruguay, the Ticos showed their first result was no fluke with a commanding performance against Italy. Coach Jorge Luis Pinto has settled on a formula that's worked wonders so far, with defensive solidity providing the backbone and talented attackers picking their spots as they did with Bryan Ruiz's goal against the Italians.

England seek to salvage a thoroughly disappointing run with a win against the upstart Ticos The overwhelming sentiment in England was that the Three Lions would likely not come close to winning the World Cup. As it turned out, their fears were realized after just two games, guaranteeing their worst-ever placing at a World Cup. England will likely still want to leave the tournament on a positive note, especially with the press at home eager to deliver postmortems on a disappointing tournament. Meanwhile, the controversy of the day in England concerns players who are not even at the tournament , as captain Steven Gerrard fielding questions about colleagues turning down past call-ups. Besides the bragging rights, that is. If the Ticos win Group D, they will most likely avoid Colombia in the Round of 16. While no game in the knockout stage will be easy, it stands to reason that a game against any of the other three teams in Group C (Ivory Coast, currently sitting in second place, Japan, or Greece) will prove a better draw than the tricky Colombians.

Costa Rica will seek make it a clean 3/3 with the three Lions who actually have nothing to play for asides for their fans just as Spain did yesterday against the Socceroos. The Ticos will employ same tactics against England.  England have scored in their previous games and I expect them to find the net HERE.

Verdict: Both teams to score