It all began with a decisive save by Johnny Placide (6th minute) against a Costa Rican attacker. The AS Bastia goalkeeper, who delivered an excellent performance, deflected the shot into a corner.

The Grenadiers wasted no time reacting, taking control of the game while trying to find openings in the Costa Rican defense. In this phase of play, Frantzdy Pierrot, set up by Jean Ricner Bellegarde, saw his shot pushed back by Keylor Navas (15th). Five minutes later, Bellegarde tested the opposing goalkeeper with a curling effort. The latter had to pull out all the stops to send the ball out for a corner and delay the opening goal for the Grenadiers.