Here are five names to have at your fingertips about the 20th World Cup, hosted by Brazil and won by Germany.
Ticos. Costa Rica had been drawn into Group D with three former World Cup champions: Uruguay, Italy and England — and Los Ticos finished first in the group. They opened with a 3-1 win over Uruguay and clinched second-round passage in their second game with a 1-0 win over Italy on a Bryan Ruiz goal, before tying England, which had been eliminated after its first two games. Ruiz struck again in the round of 16 — 1-1 tie with Greece that Costa Rica won in a penalty kick tiebreaker. In the quarterfinal, Costa Rica exited on PKs after tying the Netherland, 0-0. It was the best World Cup showing by a Concacaf team since the USA reached the quarterfinals in 2002. (Mexico lost to the Netherlands, 2-1, in the round of 16. Honduras lost all three of its group games.)
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