Following the horrible start to World Cup qualifying that finally ended the Jurgen Klinsmann era, the United States turned to a tried-and-true head coach in Bruce Arena. He’s gotten the USMNT back into an automatic qualifying spot with a tried-and-true pattern: wins at home, draws on the road. If that pattern holds, the US should be expected to defeat Costa Rica tonight.
Patterns don’t win games, though, and Costa Rica (currently three points ahead of the USMNT in CONCACAF’s Hexagonal) is the most difficult opponent left for the Americans. While this particular fixture has gone well for the US (6W-2D-1L with only 4 goals conceded all-time, and that defeat came in 1985), a loss could really complicate things.