We said: Iraq 0-1 Costa Rica
Both sides showed a solid commitment to defending and organisation in their previous encounter, but neither have proven they have the poise and quality in the attack to bury their goalscoring opportunities.
The Costa Ricans are not as dynamic as they were at the 2014 World Cup, but their experienced leaders have stepped up countless times to propel them to victory this year, and we anticipate those individuals will do that in this encounter.
Read more.Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Iraq win with a probability of 35.96%. A win for Costa Rica had a probability of 34.89% and a draw had a probability of 29.2%.
The most likely scoreline for a Iraq win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.32%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (7.44%) and 2-0 (6.84%). The likeliest Costa Rica win was 0-1 (12.08%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.4%).