Costa Rica vs. Mexico: Live Stream, TV Info & More for 2014 World Cup Qualifier

Can Mexico remain perfect in Group B during the third round of World Cup qualifying?

That will be put to the test when El Tri travels to San José to face a Costa Rican side currently sitting second in the group and hoping to solidify its chances to move on to the next round of qualifying with a win.

However, they'll face a tall task when they take on Javier Hernandez, Andres Guardado, Hector Moreno and a strong Mexican side. Let's take a closer look at this qualifying clash.

When: Friday, September 7 at 10:00 p.m. ET

Where: Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica

Watch: Telemundo

Live Stream: Telemundo  

Mexico Roster

Goalkeepers (3): Jose Corona, Guillermo Ochoa, Alfredo Talavera

Defenders (8): Severo Meza, Israel Jimenez, Francisco Javier Rodriguez, Hector Moreno, Hugo Ayala, Hiram Mier, Jorge Torres Nilo, Darvin Chavez

Midfielders (8): Carlos Salcido, Jesus Zavala, Gerardo Torrado, Elias Hernandez, Javier Aquino, Andres Guardado, Angel Reyna 

Forwards (4): Oribe Peralta, Marco Fabian, Javier Hernandez, Aldo de Nigris

Costa Rica Roster

Goalkeepers (2): Keylor Navas, Patrick Pemberton

Defense (9): Michael Umaña, Roy Miller, Gabriel Badilla, Bryan Oviedo, Jose Salvatierra, Jhonny Acosta, Giancarlo Gonzalez, Pedro Leal, Néstor Monge

Midfielders (7): Christian Bolaños, Celso Borges, Michael Barrantes, Oscar Rojas, Jose Miguel Cubero, Rodney Wallace, Yeltsin Tejeda 

Forwards (5): Álvaro Saborío, Bryan Ruiz, Randall Brenes, Joel Campbell, Daniel Colindres

Preview

Mexico has only lost five of the 44 tilts against Costa Rica, winning 25 and drawing 14. With big-name stars like Chicharito on the roster, Mexico surely should be the favorite.

The team will also boast eight players (Peralta, Fabian, Aquino, Salcido, Jimenez, Corona, Chavez and Mier) from the Olympic gold-medal squad.

Still, there are no guarantees here. Mexico is fresh off a friendly loss to the United States in Mexico City in mid-August, the first time ever that the U.S. has beaten El Tri in Mexico. While that may motivate this Mexican side to ratchet up its game—and truthfully, the lone U.S. goal came against the run of play—Costa Rica may see it as a sign of vulnerability.

Plus, Mexico will be without one of its top attackers: Giovani dos Santos.

Costa Rica already has a win over Guyana and a draw with El Salvador in qualifying and is second in Group B, so it can certainly live with a draw against Group B favorites Mexico. 

However, I don't see that happening. Mexico is simply too strong to drop this match. While the match in San Jose won't be easy for the visiting side, look for El Tri to come away with a 2-1 win.

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