Costa Rica, New Zealand to battle for last World Cup spot on TSN

Government workers in Costa Rica will be allowed extra time off for lunch to watch their national team take on New Zealand in a playoff to decide the last team to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar.

Watch the game Tuesday afternoon at 2pm ET/11am PT on TSN 1/5, TSN Direct and the TSN App

President’ Rodrigo Chaves’ s edict allowing Costa Rican public sector workers to follow the broadcast in an extended lunch break Tuesday will come as something of a shock to the team from New Zealand, where rugby is the national sporting obsession.

When the playoff at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Doha kicks off, in New Zealand it’ll be 6 a.m. Wednesday local time.

World Cup qualifying campaigns have occasionally brought soccer to prominence in New Zealand. The so-called All Whites first qualified for the World Cup finals in 1982 through a record campaign of 13 matches which saw them zigzag from China to Saudi Arabia.

In 2010 when they qualified to play in South Africa, where they were eliminated in group play after three draws, including one with Italy, public attention again spiked. The playoff match against Bahrain brought in a record crowd, but soccer’s time in the spotlight there was short-lived.

New Zealand reached this final qualifying match after emerging as the top team in the Oceania region, though their matches against mostly small Pacific Island nations didn't break any TV ratings records. More recently, international friendlies against Peru, which New Zealand lost 1-0, and Oman, which ended in a 0-0 draw, have done little to build enthusiasm among those uninitiated in soccer’s global appeal.

Costa Rica have been much more regular World Cup attendees, having qualified in 1990, 2002, 2006, 2014 and 2018.

The Costa Ricans