page_title: Costa Rica national football team
section_title: Early history
hierarchical_section_title: Costa Rica national football team / History / Early history
caption_attribution_description: English: Costa Rica national football team
context_page_description: The Costa Rica national football team represents Costa Rica in men's international football. The national team is administered by the Costa Rican Football Federation, the governing body for football in Costa Rica. It has been a member of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association since 1927, the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football since 1961, and a member of the Central American Football Union since 1990.
  Costa Rica is the most successful national football team in history from the region of Central America. Winning three CONCACAF Championships and leading the Copa Centroamericana tournament with four championships up until 2017, when it was absorbed into the CONCACAF Nations League. Costa Rica is the only national team in Central America to have played in five FIFA World Cup editions. Costa Rica's national football team has the all-time highest average Football Elo Ranking in Central America with 1597.1, and the all-time highest Football Elo Ranking in Central America, with 1806 in 2014.
context_section_description: The national team made its debut in the Independence Centenary Games held in Guatemala City in September 1921, winning their first game 7–0 against El Salvador. In the final, Costa Rica defeated 6–0 Guatemala to claim the trophy.
  Costa Rica's team in the late 1940s acquired the nickname "The Gold Shorties". Throughout the '50s and '60s, they were the second strongest team in the CONCACAF zone behind Mexico, finishing runners-up in World Cup qualifying in the 1958, 1962 and 1966 qualifiers. Stars of the side during this period included Ruben Jimenez, Errol Daniels, Leonel Hernandez and Edgar Marin. However, Costa Rica was not able to utilize this advantage, hence failed to reach any World Cup at that decade.
  At the end of the 1960s their fortunes declined as Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Haiti, Trinidad & Tobago and Canada rose in prominence.
caption: Costa Rica national team at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia
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