Brazil Costa Rica betting tip
Since I watched the Ticos’ preliminary round match against Turkey at the 2002 World Cup as a young boy, I have remained a fan of the Central Americans at heart.
However, according to the current Copa America odds, the signs are not particularly good for the underdogs in this major intercontinental event in 2024.
I’m not backing them in my Brazil Costa Rica prediction either. Because, beyond all sentimentality, it is first and foremost important to me to implement a successful European Championship betting bonus.
With a tip like the one I’m suggesting, the chances of doing this successfully are simply much higher!
If you have taken a look at the Copa America odds, you will have realized that the Brazilians are no longer the absolute top favourites.
It is precisely this demotion that the five-time world champions are struggling with internally. Accordingly, this prestigious competition should be used as a springboard to climb back up in the favor of spectators and sports betting providers.
According to my Brazil Costa Rica betting tip, they will succeed in this endeavor, at least in the opening game. Because even if the Ticos have discreet offensive power, they simply concede far too many goals to be able to seriously compete with Brazil.
The prediction of the bookmakers?
I know it’s a hackneyed phrase, but in various sports betting apps you will actually be confronted with David versus Goliath odds for this match.
Just like back then in the Valley of Elah, the Costa Ricans are facing a seemingly insurmountable task several millennia later.
The Brazil Costa Rica odds give them only a low percentage probability of success of 5.5% with a value of 18.0.
The Brazil odds of around 1.16, on the other hand, must in my view be drastically increased by a suitable additional condition in order to make it a lucrative soccer bet in the first place.
Analysis: Brazil vs Costa Rica
It will be interesting to see how Brazil will perform at this tournament after their worst ever start to World Cup qualifying.
Admittedly, none of the last four games against sometimes world-class teams such as England (1:0), Spain (3:3), Mexico (3:2) or the USA (1:1) have been lost. But has this really restored confidence in the Selecao?
The offense with Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo and Raphinha is fearsomely good, but I don’t think the midfield is as capable as that of the Argentinians or Uruguayans.
On the other side of the pitch, however, there’s “only” Costa Rica on Tuesday, which is why I still expect the five-time world champions to have at least 65% of the ball
Costa Rica have unfortunately not been producing the talent they did a decade or so ago. Keylor Navas, the long-time leader of the team and a model professional, played his last international match before retiring in March.
What remains is an extremely young team with hardly any players who earn their money outside their own country.
Joel Campbell will perhaps be familiar to many of you and is the only Costa Rican player who, along with Francisco Calvo, has played more than 23 international matches.
They won two World Cup qualifiers against Grenada (3-0) and Saint Kitts and Nevis (4-0) earlier this month, but that is of course no guide to the daunting task they now face.
Odds analysis
The Brazil Costa Rica odds are too low to place a single bet on the obvious favorite. It is therefore imperative to find alternatives.
There is a certain amount of risk involved, but in the end I opted for the betting option “BRA wins & both teams score” in Betano’s offer, as it promises a relatively good payout.
I’ll back up this decision with some data later in my prediction, but I can already tell you that the South Americans have recently had problems finishing a game without conceding a goal.
Costa Rica’s defense will crumble!
The Ticos would love to park the team bus lengthways in front of their own box on Tuesday, because preventing opponents from scoring is actually their biggest weakness.
Unfortunately, their defensive prowess is not enough to get them through the group stage of an intercontinental competition of this magnitude.
Only two players have more than ten caps to their name, and hardly anyone has the experience at club level to take on a team like Brazil’s seriously.
Watch out: In 3 of their last 4 international matches since the fall of 2023 against current Copa America participants, their own goalkeeper has had to make at least 3 saves
BRA also always good for a goal against
It’s human nature to side with the underdog, but in this case it seems to be a futile endeavor.
After all, there have been seven head-to-head meetings between the two nations and Brazil have come out on top seven times, three of them at the World Cup finals.
The only thing that might encourage the Ticos is that the last meeting was six years ago and the five-time world champions are no longer as dominant as they were in 2018 (2:0).
At the last Copa America, Brazil started the tournament with convincing victories over Venezuela and Peru, who were dispatched 3-0 and 4-0 respectively.
The oddsmakers are expecting a very similar result on Tuesday, but I personally suspect that the South Americans’ sloppy defense will once again be unable to play to nil.
The Costa Ricans will be able to exert some pressure going forward and take advantage of the defensive uncertainty that currently prevails among the men from the country that loves to dance the samba by making the occasional pinprick.
Hold on tight: The Selecao have only kept two clean sheets in their last 16 international matches.
Precisely because the current Brazil Costa Rica odds are offering extremely high odds on the Ticos scoring an honorary or follow-up goal, this tip simply cannot be missing from my betting slip
My tip:
It’s Brazil that’s hungry, and a whole country is looking forward to Dorival Júnior’s work.
Has he got the “Selecao” back on track? Personally, I see a much-improved team that will not be playing for the title, but will sell much better than a few months ago.
However, the Costa Ricans should be able to benefit from the vulnerability of the Brazilian defense, so that they should at least be able to score a consolation goal.
After all, you shouldn’t have forgotten the last World Cup in Qatar, when the Ticos even managed to take a 2-1 lead against Germany at one stage
My tip: Win Brazil & Both teams score