Our prediction for this match:
Saudi Arabia
Match Time & Date:
08/09/2023
02:00 PM
Prediction: 0-0
Costa Rica
Saudi Arabia and Costa Rica face each other at St. James’ Park in what is expected to be a close encounter. Saudi Arabia national championship has been popular of late as the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Karim Benzema, and Aleksandar Mitrovic take part in it and, as a result, Friday’s friendly draws huge attention. It has to be noted, though, that the Green Falcons are on a four-game losing run ahead of the visit of Costa Rica.
Los Ticos, on the other hand, aim to recover from the Gold Cup loss to Mexico, but this game will be anything but a walk in the park for the nominal visitors. The two teams seem to be evenly matched and, taking everything into account, we believe that there is a big value in betting on draw. As always, a man to watch in the away team will be former Arsenal forward Joel Campbell.
Highlighted Player (Joel Campbell):
Joel Campbell is a highly rated 23-year-old versatile forward who plays for the English Premier League club Arsenal and the Costa Rica national team. His versatility has seen him operating as a forward or on the wings. Campbell often hogs the headlines with his fast-paced runs on the wings and breathtaking goals.
He was highly rated by Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger and was snapped up as a teenager in 2011 but spent his first three seasons at the club on loan at three different clubs. His competitive debut at Arsenal came only in 2014 but has become a regular with the national squad. He has earned 55 caps already and has 11 goals to his credit in national colors.
He has already played in CONCACAF Gold Cup and Copa America. But it is his success as a key member of the 2014 FIFA World Cup quarter-final reaching squad that is a highlight of his career so far.
Highlighted Team (Saudi Arabia):
Saudi Arabia Football Federation was established back in 1956, but the Saudis qualified for a major tournament 28 years later, when they participated in the AFC Asian Cup. In 1988 Saudi Arabia won their first trophy, with the team beating South Korea in the Asian Cup final.
Eight years later they repeated the success and it has to be noted that they have been playing at the Asian Cup finals ever since. Speaking of their appearances at the FIFA World Cup finals, the Green Falcons did well to qualify for the 1994 tournament, where they made it to the last 16. Saudi Arabia participated at the 1998, 2002 and 2006 tournament as well, but they missed out on a place at the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals.
However, the Asian side booked their place at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia thanks to a win over Japan in their last group game in the qualifiers. Saudi Arabia’s home kits are white, whilst they wear green jerseys and shirts when playing on the road.
Man City 
Everton
Liverpool
Burnley
Tottenham
Brighton
AS Roma
Inter
Bayer Leverkusen
Bayern Munich 
Nottingham Forest 
Newcastle 
