USMNT to host Costa Rica on Oct. 13 at Red Bull Arena

CHICAGO (Via U.S. Soccer) – The U.S. Men’s National Team will follow up its decisive CONCACAF playoff against Mexico on Oct. 10 with another challenging match against a regional rival when it hosts 2014 FIFA World Cup quarterfinalist Costa Rica on Oct. 13 at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey.

Kickoff for the match is set for 6:30 p.m. ET, with the game televised on ESPN and WatchESPN, as well as UniMas and the Univision Deportes Network (pre-game show on both Spanish-language networks starting at 6 p.m. ET).

The friendly against Costa Rica will be the first time the teams face off since meeting for a trio of games in 2013. The U.S. won two of those three matchups, outlasting Costa Rica in the home-leg of final round World Cup qualifying with a 1-0 win in the snow at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado, and following up with another 1-0 victory in East Hartford, Connecticut, on its way to the 2013 Gold Cup title. The U.S. has an impressive record against Costa Rica on U.S. soil (13-4-4). In the most recent matchup, a World Cup Qualifying matchup held in Central America, Costa Rica won 3-1 in San Jose.

This will be the 33rd meeting between the United States and Costa Rica, with the lifetime series evenly split at 13-13-6. The MNT has played 16 matches in the state of New Jersey, and this will be its third at Red Bull Arena. The last time the team played at the venue was in 2014 before of a sold-out crowd of 26,762, when Tim Howard became the MNT’s all-time winningest goalkeeper with his 54th victory, leading the U.S. to a 2-1 win against Turkey.

The match against Costa Rica will take place just three days after the MNT’s all-important playoff against Mexico on Oct. 10, a game that will determine which CONCACAF team will play in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. The game against Costa Rica will also serve as a part of the USA’s continued preparations for 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifying, which begins on Nov. 13 when the team plays the winner of St. Vincent & The Grenadines and Aruba at Busch Stadium in St. Louis in its opening qualifying game.