Costa Rica, Honduras meet in crucial match for World Cup qualification | OneFootball

MIAMI – The Final Round of the Concacaf Qualifiers to the 2026 FIFA World Cup continues with Costa Rica hosting Honduras in Group C on Tuesday at Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica in San José, Costa Rica.

The encounter presents a rematch of the October 9 tilt in which the Central American rivals played out a nil-nil draw in Honduras.

Costa Rica (1-3-1) looks to bounce back after falling 1-nil against Haiti. Los Ticos sit third in the group with six points and can secure direct qualification with a win against Honduras, combined with a loss or draw for Haiti.

Qualification Scenarios

Honduras (2-2-1) visits Costa Rica after its 2-nil loss at Nicaragua. Despite the past result, Los Catrachos remain first in Group A with eight points and a better goal difference than Haiti. Honduras will qualify directly if it wins and Haiti loses, draws or wins and finishes with a lower goal differential.

Historical Post-Match Data

Haiti 1–0 Costa Rica

Haiti breaks through against Costa Rica

Haiti’s 1-0 victory over Costa Rica brought them closer to the 2026 FIFA World Cup and marked their first-ever win against the Ticos in World Cup Qualifying, ending a 5-match winless streak (L-4, D-1). It was also the first time Haiti kept a clean sheet against Costa Rica in qualifying.

Costa Rica saw its run of 15 straight matches without defeat in World Cup Qualifying come to an end (11 wins, 4 draws).

Miguel Herrera becomes first Mexican manager to lose to Haiti

Miguel Herrera became the first Mexican-born manager to lose to Haiti, ending a 7-match unbeaten run by Mexican coaches against the Haitians (W-4, D-3).

Nicaragua 2–0 Honduras

Nicaragua defeats Honduras for the first time in WCQ

Nicaragua recorded its first-ever victory over Honduras in the Concacaf World Cup Qualifiers, ending an 18-match winless run against the Catrachos in all competitions (L-15, D-3). Nicaragua had not defeated Honduras since March 12, 1965, when it claimed a 2-0 win (goals by Pedro “Peche” Jirón and Gerardo Barrios) in the Concacaf Nations Championship. The win also snapped Nicaragua’s streak of five WCQ matches without a victory.

End of Honduras’s unbeaten and shutout streaks

The loss ended Honduras’s 8-match unbeaten run in World Cup Qualifying (W-6, D-2), as well as its streak of 6 straight clean sheets. It was Honduras’s 51st loss in WCQ history: the 33rd away from home, the 18th against a Central American opponent, and the 51st overall.

For head coach Reinaldo Rueda, the defeat ended his personal unbeaten run of 9 matches in charge of Honduras (W-7, D-2).