Spain vs. Costa Rica: Top Storylines, Odds, Live Stream for Women's World Cup 2023
Spain enters the 2023 Women's World Cup as a potential favorite to go deep into the competition and, potentially, win the entire thing.
Costa Rica is an underdog making only its second appearance on this particular world stage and has set personal goals for itself.
They meet Friday in a match that can best be described as a showdown that, on paper, appears to be one-sided but in reality, could net the first massive upset of the event.
Ahead of the showdown in Australia, find out the current odds for the match and which storylines to keep an eye on.
Odds, Schedule, Streaming Info
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Odds
Spain (-20000; bet $100 and win $100.50)
Draw (+3500; bet $100 and win $3600)
Costa Rica (+5500; bet $100 and win $5600)
Schedule and Viewing Info
Date: Friday, July 20
Time: 3:30 a.m.
TV: Fox Sports 1
Streaming: Fox Sports app
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook
Alexia Putellas Returns to the International Stage
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This Women's World Cup represents an opportunity for Spain's brightest star to return the international stage in grand fashion after missing last year's European Championship with a torn ACL.
After scoring in her first match back, she will look to lead a team with lofty expectations for considerable success.
A hungry team that has already established itself as a force to be reckoned with in this World Cup by way of a preceding victory of the heavily publicized United States squad, as well as Norway and Argentina, they will look to make headlines in what is just the country's third appearance in the event.
There is uncertainty about the youth and inexperience of the squad considering a considerable number of competitors are participating in their first major international play, but that is where Putellas comes in.
A two-time Ballon d'Or Féminin award winner as the best player in the world, it will be on her to not only re-establish herself as a force on the field in her first meaningful matches back but also as a leader in the locker room.
Head coach Jorge Vilda believes she will, and has, done just that.
"The sensations were very good, not just for the goal that she scored but for her assists, for how she helped the team. That's what we expect from Alexia, but it's clear the best of Alexia is still to come, and we'll do everything on our side to make that happen," he told reporters following her brief return in a June friendly win over Panama.
Putellas has all of the individual hardware as recognition of her greatness over the last two seasons. A World Cup win, against a field as good and deep as this one, would only further establish her legacy as one of the greats and Spain as the force many already believe it to be entering this year's competition.
Costa Rica Looking for Massive Upset in Second World Cup Appearance
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Costa Rica may only be competing in its second World Cup but a crop of talented players and the momentum from an undefeated preliminary round, have them thinking they can play with anyone.
That is a dangerous mindset, not for the underdog but for whichever team finds itself unlucky enough to share the field with them.
The team is led by Raquel Rodriguez, a gritty midfielder who accounted for the first goal in the country's World Cup history and compares the grand stage to a battlefield.
"In Costa Rica, we don't have a military, so we always say that the football pitch is a bit like our battlefield (laughs), for want of a better term. The fans want to take pride in what they're seeing, and that's something we want to give them," she told FiFA.com.
For the relative newcomers to the World Cup stage, the expectations are lofty internally.
"We want to go there to compete. Costa Rica haven't ever made it out of the group stage, so that's a really specific goal for us."
The team realizes the likelihood that it will make a realistic run at the cup is low, but that does not mean it cannot make some noise while achieving its goal. Defeating Spain Friday morning would be a massive upset and earn headlines around the world. It would be this tournament's version of David downing Goliath, but the grittiness of the Costa Rican squad, coupled with the youth an inexperience beyond Spain's star, does not completely rule it out.
"We've got a few girls in the squad who've spent a few seasons playing in Spain, and from afar, I've seen what they've been talking about, which is that women's football in Spain has developed exponentially," Rodriguez said of La Roja.
"But whichever way you slice it, at a World Cup each side is one of the best international outfits in the world - including us. So I think it's an excellent opportunity to fill our country, Costa Rica, with a lot of pride."
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