Costa Rica eye direct World Cup spot

Costa Rica will treat the last two games of the CONCACAF region's 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers like finals, veteran defender Francisco Calvo said on Tuesday.

The Central American team will face Haiti in Curacao on November 13 before hosting Honduras in San Jose five days later.

The Ticos are currently second in their group and two victories over the next week will almost certainly be enough to secure a direct place in football's showpiece tournament, to be played in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

"The good thing is that we depend on ourselves," Calvo told reporters. "The qualification is in our hands, but we have to go step by step.

"The first final we have is against Haiti. Hopefully we can control the game from the outset and not give them any space. As long as we build from a solid defensive base, we know we have the forwards to make our dominance count."

The top team from each of the three groups will automatically qualify for the 2026 tournament, while the two best-ranked runners-up will advance to the inter-confederation playoffs.