Led by skipper Bryan Ruiz, they qualified for the quarter-finals in a memorable tournament in Brazil, which will go down as one of the most surprising underdog stories in World Cup history.

Costa Rica went into the 2014 World Cup with a squad that was energetic, highly experienced and buoyed by both captain Bryan Ruiz, and defensive steel in the form of Michael Umaña and Keylor Navas.

Costa Rica’s road to Russia was comfortable. They clinched second spot in the last round of qualifying, finishing seven points clear of the playoff spot. It was a rocky start in the final phase, drawing against Panama and losing to the United States.

However, victories against Jamaica and Honduras steadied the ship as they put themselves in the driver's seat and qualified with a further win against Mexico.

Los Ticos never lost a match in which the skipper Bryan Ruiz scored, while there were a total of nine different goal scorers for Costa Rica in the final phase of qualifying.

This pointed towards impending pitfalls in the final third for Luis Pinto. Who would bury their chances?

The cracks began to show at the beginning of the year as preparation for the World Cup was disastrous. In their first two friendlies in 2014, they were humbled 4-0 by Chile when Michael Umana was sent off, before losing 1-0 to South Korea, where they again were reduced to ten men.

Their only win pre-World Cup was a 2-1 victory over Paraguay at home, while days out from the World Cup a 3-1 loss to Japan and an embarrassing 1-1 draw at home to Ireland had pundits writing Costa Rica off their dark horse lists.

Their form pre-World Cup pointed towards a team that lacked cohesion, discipline and chemistry, but no-one would have predicted that this team was about to make history.

Their first group game put them up against a side that were favourites to go deep in the competition, Uruguay. Edinson Cavani slotted a penalty home just before the half hour mark and were on top for the first half.

But Luis Pinto switched things up and brought the game back on level pegging when Joel Campbell rifled in a left-footed volley past a helpless Fernando Muslera.

Seconds later, Los Ticos were in front as Christian Bolanos’ cross to the back post found a diving Oscar Duarte who headed across goal and into the side netting.

Marcos Urena sealed a momentous three points against Uruguay with a finish past the legs of the goalkeeper.