THE Gods of football were smiling on Germany in the last round of games and they have a chance to complete a comeback from the dead when they face Costa Rica on Thursday.
The Germans were boosted by Costa Rica's win over Japan before their crunch game against Spain, where they battled back and deservedly secured what could be a precious point.
It's now a fascinating group with plenty of those all-important permutations. In a nutshell, Costa Rica will qualify with a win and Germany would go through if they won and Spain beat Japan. They can also qualify with a win and if the other game is drawn if they score more goals than Japan
After that it starts getting complicated. Basically, Costa Rica would qualify with a draw if Japan lose and the Germans will go out if they don't win.
Hansi Flick's side deserves plenty of credit for their display against the Spaniards. They took command in the second half and made Spain pay for retreating. They looked far more aggressive than they did in that disjointed loss to Japan.
Costa Rica stunned Japan by bouncing back from their trouncing from Spain and their late winner was down to being solidly defensively, but this is a different level.
How the bookies view it
With Germany having to win, it's no surprise to see them favourites, although they are completely unbackable unless on an acca at 7/100 with Highbet.
Costa Rica are huge 83/4 (almost 21/1) outsiders, with the draw 87/10.
Recent head to heads
The nations have only met once and that was in the 2006 World Cup when Germany beat Costa Rica 6-2 in their homeland.
Players to watch
Keysher Fuller netted the only goal against Jaoan and the midfielder who plays for local club Herediano is 81/4 to repeat his heroics against Germany.
With Germany in need of goals, they may turn to Werder Bremen striker Niclas Fullkrug, who was the hero against Spain when he came off the bench and netted. His physical presence made Germany look much better and he is 51/50 to score again.
Anything else catch the eye?
Germany are ludicrously short, but they must win and need to rattle up the goals for insurance purposes and they might just do that against a Costa Rican side who were fortunate Japan couldn't turn possession into goals.
However, finding any kind of value is hard with the Germans being so short. Even half time and full time is around 3/10.
The handicap option looks the best shout here then at 7/10 for Germany -2 goals. It isn't a great price, but with the Germans having to go for goals, they should cover it.
One remarkable stat is that Costa Rica are the only team who have yet to win a single corner in two games at the World Cup!
With Germany set to dominate here, it would be a surprise if that changed so try the under 1.5 corners at 101/100 with Highbet.
This World Cup match between Costa Rica and Germany will be played on Dec 1, 2022 and kick off at 19:00. Check below for our tipsters best Costa Rica vs Germany prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
