On Tuesday night the Costa Rica Male Soccer Team was eliminated in the 2024 America Cup.

The final game against the Paraguay Team was played at Q2 Stadium in Austin, Texas, but for the first 10 minutes, it may as well have been a dreamland for the Ticos.

Just three minutes into the game, Costa Rican center back, Francisco Calvo, marauded up to join the attack and was rewarded with a peach of a cross from Joseph Mora. Los Ticos’ captain made no mistake in dispatching the cross into the back of the net and just like that Costa Rica was up 1-0.

Then just four minutes later, it was Josimar Alcocer’s turn to score. The 19-year-old scored his second-ever international goal for his country off a great assist from Jefferson Brenes to put Ticos up 2-0 after just seven minutes of play.

The offensive game plan that Costa Rica had made before the match was being executed to perfection. The only chance Costa Rica had to qualify for the Quarterfinals was to win their match, have Brazil lose to Colombia, and then match up the goal difference, a difficult ask considering Brazil’s was +3 while Costa Rica’s was -3.

Still, the Ticos team showed plenty of determination to not let the low odds deter their play.

Paraguay finally settled into the game after the first two goals and was able to limit the chances Costa Rica was creating.

Additionally, young star Julio Anciso looked extremely bright, getting on the ball often and being the heartbeat of every positive moment Paraguay created.

After 45 minutes in Austin Texas, the score was 2-0 Costa Rica.

Paraguay wouldn't go away quietly though. Ten minutes into the second half, Ramon Sosa scored a stunning curling strike from the top of the box to halve the deficit for the South American team. Sosa continued to be impressive in the second half and seemed the most likely to score again.

The best chance for an equalizer came in the 90+3’ of stoppage time following a gorgeous corner kick from Paraguayan substitute Kaku. The Costa Rican goalkeeper Patrick Sequeira had to make a point-blank save to deny Angel Romero whose foot met Kaku’s cross right in front of the goal.

Sequeira’s heroics ensured Costa Rica would leave the America Cup with a win, even if it wasn’t enough to qualify for the next round.

On June 24, the first game for the Ticos concluded with an exciting 0-0 draw against the Brazil Team at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, U.S.A.