The list for Qatar is now complete.

Costa Rica clinched the last of 32 World Cup tickets (November 21-December 18), beating New Zealand 1-0 on Tuesday.

For their sixth FIFA World Cup and the third in a row, the Costa Ricans join Spain, Germany and Japan in Group E, tough but "pretty" according to their Colombian coach Luis Fernando Suárez.

On the other hand, the outcome is cruel for the "Kiwis", dominating but upset twice by the video refereeing.

New Zealand dominance

"We were lucky to score a goal quickly and then we had to fight against the qualities of New Zealand, especially in the first half," admitted Suárez, before praising the "resilience" of his men after a start. of winded qualifications.

From the 3rd minute, former Arsenal striker Joel Campbell converted the Central Americans' only chance in the first period, in the air-conditioned Ahmad bin Ali stadium in Al-Rayyan west of Doha, which will host seven matches of the first World Cup in an Arab country.

Then, in front of an audience largely won over in Costa Rica (31st in the Fifa rankings), it was the New Zealanders (101st), who made the game, with 64% possession of the ball and nine shots, including three on target, in the first period.

Navas holds his cages

But, in the 39th minute, Newcastle striker Chris Wood was denied the equalizing goal, after recourse to VAR, for a foul committed by setter Matthew Garbett.

It was then the yellow card inflicted on Kosta Barbarouses that the VAR transformed into red for a dangerous tackle on Francisco Calvo (69th), while the striker of Greek origin had only entered the game 8 minutes earlier.

Reduced to ten, the "Kiwis" remained offensive until the end but failed to deceive PSG goalkeeper Keylor Navas.

Their coach Danny Hay, whose men are missing out on their third World Cup after 1982 and 2010, said he was "incredibly disappointed".

"I think we were by far the best team, without a doubt," he commented, believing that Fifa had "let them down" by choosing a referee who was not at the level.

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