SAN JOSÉ (AP) — Costa Rica placed themselves in the World Cup qualifying zone and, moreover, prevented the Canadian leader from formalizing their direct qualification, beating him 1-0 on Thursday to take away their record. of invincibility.

Celso Borges scored in the first half and that was enough to give the hosts victory at the National Stadium, against a shorthanded opponent for much of the duel.

The Ticos, who started the year far from qualifying places and who had recently appointed Colombian Luis Fernando Suárez as their strategist, have been steadily adding points in their matches this year.

“These players have character and a lot of desire to represent the country, we beat the best team in CONCACAF,” Suárez said.

They reached 19 points, moving them into fourth place, replacing Panama, who on the same day were tied at home to bottom club Honduras. The Costa Rican side would earn with their current venue the right to play a playoff match against a side from Oceania, as a possible way into what would be their third consecutive World Cup.

Even Costa Rica has the possibility of stalking Mexico or the United States in third place.

Canadians, Americans and Mexicans currently occupy the first three places in the tie, which distribute direct tickets to Qatar.

Sunday, the Ticos visit El Salvador and Tuesday they conclude the draw, in San José against the United States.

With a full house and an atmosphere full of optimism, Costa Rica went for a favorable result from the start with a good order approach in defense and pressure on the opponent’s exit.

“The reception of the people has been spectacular today,” said Suárez.

Side finishes and cornering crosses were the locals’ favorite weapons as they looked to beat Milan Borjan’s goal, but without too much of a goal.

Before the end of the 15th minute, Mark Anthony Kaye committed a serious foul on Costa Rican Ronald Marrita, which required a VAR review, but did not result in a card.

At 34, Kaye was caught hitting striker Johan Venegas with his shoulder. This time, referee Said Martínez didn’t hesitate to show the red card, which left the Canadians with ten men.

The sending off of Kaye motivated the Ticos to attack harder, and they got their goal after Gerson Torres fell from the right sector. His cross found Borges’ header and made it 1-0 as he recovered a minute after the end of the first half.

The man down was no excuse for the Canadians to look for the tying goal. They had a few shots early in the second half with Tajon Buchanan, but Costa Rica responded with a Joel Campbell counterattack that was close to ending in a goal.

Despite the advantage, Costa Rica chose to strengthen their defense and wait for the counterattack, while Canada’s arrivals became more intense.

Canada had two clear options for the tie: first with a smash from Buchanan at 72, then another from Jonathan David at 87. In both cases the ball crashed into the post much to the keeper’s delight Keylor Navas and his team.

After coming under those attacks, Costa Rica celebrated the win over the tie leader in style.

“If we stay until 2 or 3 in the morning, the goal does not go in. This team has had 17 good games without losing and now is the time, it’s football. It was time to lose this night against Costa Rica,” said Canadian coach John Herdman.

The strategist assured that he expected the pressure exerted by the Costa Rican team from the start of the match, carried by its supporters.

“It was what I expected from a home team with the whole country behind, I knew we were going to have that pressure and we had to break it. The expulsion comes at the wrong time,” he said .

The Canadian team closes the octagon with a duel against Jamaica on Sunday in Toronto and a visit to Panama on Wednesday. A draw is enough for them to qualify for what would be their first World Cup since Mexico 1986.