00:01Since FIFA's records began, only one other CONCACAF country has held a higher ranking.
00:08Costa Rica, following their stunning performances at the 2014 World Cup.
00:15Viewed as the easy beats in a group of death, Los Chicos defeated Uruguay and Italy
00:21and drew with England to progress to the knockout phase for only the second time in their history.
00:28We are realistic and we knew that, you know, of course the world would expect either Uruguay, Italy or England
00:36to go through.
00:37I mean, that's normal because of the history and the resources, all the facilities that the other teams have.
00:45But, I mean, nowadays when you have talent players and when you work very hard, you have a chance.
00:57Costa Rica then squeaked past Greece on penalties before coming unstuck in the same fashion against the Netherlands.
01:072014 was also the year Costa Rica won the last of the eight Copa Centroamericana titles.
01:13The tournament, which ran biennially from 1991 to 2017, featured only Central American nations.
01:22And La Sele only failed to make the final twice.
01:29This high point of Costa Rican football contained the country's most notable players, including Keylor Navas,
01:36who won a hat-trick of UEFA Champions Leagues with Real Madrid.
01:49Being in the national team is an amazing feeling.
01:52The national team of the place where I was born, the place where I grew up, of my flag.
01:59I always tell people that when I'm in the stadium, at the Bernabeu or any stadium,
02:05and to see all the flags of Costa Rica for me is super exciting.
02:10It's one of the things that fills me with pride, seeing that Costa Ricans no longer go just because they
02:16can pay for it,
02:17but because there is a Costa Rican there.
02:25And to see how people wave their flags is something that makes me want to cry because of the emotion.
02:30And for me to defend the goal of our national team is all there is.
02:41CONCACAF's fourth team varies, as the region's less powerful nations ride short-term cycles.
02:50In recent years, that has been Canada, boosted by the emergence of world-class talents Alfonso Davies,
02:57Jonathan David and Kyle Lahren.
03:04Canada are the only country outside the USA and Mexico to win the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
03:09But their status on the wider international scene is reflected in their World Cup statistics,
03:15which, after Qatar 2022, read, played six, lost six.
03:24Canada's ascent has knocked Jamaica down the regional pecking order.
03:30The reggae boys emerged as a force in the Caribbean in the mid-1990s,
03:35qualifying for their debut World Cup in 1998.
03:40And while that appearance was a one-off, it laid the foundations for a football program that went on to
03:47dominate the CFU Caribbean Cup,
03:49followed by a second wave of success from the mid-2010s,
03:53with Jamaica consistently threatening to win a maiden CONCACAF Gold Cup.
04:02The first CONCACAF nation to qualify for the World Cup, other than Mexico and the US, was actually Cuba.
04:11The 1938 World Cup was staged in France, a decision poorly received outside Europe,
04:18with expectations the tournament would return to South America after the 1934 World Cup in Italy.
04:25Consequently, all nations in South America except Brazil withdrew,
04:30and all CONCACAF nations except Cuba, so the two qualified by default.
04:39In a curious, knockout-only tournament, the Cubans drew with Romania in their opening match,
04:46then beat them in a replay, before being hammered 8-0 by Sweden.
04:52They have barely left a mark on the international game since.
04:57Other one-hit wonders include Haiti, who lost all three matches at the 1974 World Cup.
05:04The Dwight York-inspired Trinidad and Tobago, who became the smallest nation ever to qualify for the World Cup in
05:112006.
05:13And Panama, who failed to win a point at Russia 2018.
05:20El Salvador have made two visits to football's greatest stage, and Honduras three.
05:26But collectively, they have yet to earn a win.
05:31El Salvador has the ignominious record of being on the receiving end of the biggest thrashing in World Cup history,
05:38when they were demolished 10-1 by Hungary in 1982.
05:45While Honduras were on the wrong end of the first use of goal-line technology to award a World Cup
05:51goal,
05:52when France were awarded an own goal by Honduras' goalkeeper, Noel Valladares, in 2014.
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