While the full-time result is largely unimportant, Costa Rica will head into Thursday seeking a morale-boosting result ahead of their World Cup opener. The Central Americans take on an inexperienced Nigerian side and we are backing them to come out victorious in front of their home crowd. Read more.

Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Costa Rica win with a probability of 39.93%. A win for Nigeria had a probability of 35.01% and a draw had a probability of 25.1%.

The most likely scoreline for a Costa Rica win was 2-1 with a probability of 8.67%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (8.63%) and 2-0 (6.36%). The likeliest Nigeria win was 1-2 (8.03%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.77%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 6.4% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Costa Rica would win this match.

Result
Costa Rica	Draw	Nigeria
39.93% ( -0.19)	25.05% ( -0.03)	35.01% ( 0.23)

Both teams to score 57.36% (

0.16)

Goals

Over 2.5

Under 2.5

53.92% (

0.19)

46.08% (

-0.19)

Over 3.5

Under 3.5

31.62% (

0.18)

68.38% (

-0.18)

Costa Rica Goals

Over 0.5

Under 0.5

77.07% (

-0.01)

22.92% (

0.01)

Over 1.5

Under 1.5

43.3% (

-0.02)

56.69% (

0.02)

Nigeria Goals

Over 0.5

Under 0.5

74.42% (

0.22)

25.57% (

-0.22)

Over 1.5

Under 1.5

39.55% (

0.3)

60.44% (

-0.3)

Score Analysis

Costa Rica 39.93%

Nigeria 35.01%

Draw 25.05%

Costa Rica	Draw	Nigeria
2-1 @ 8.67% ( -0.02) 1-0 @ 8.63% ( -0.07) 2-0 @ 6.36% ( -0.06) 3-1 @ 4.26% ( -0.01) 3-0 @ 3.12% ( -0.03) 3-2 @ 2.9% ( 0.01) 4-1 @ 1.57% ( -0) 4-0 @ 1.15% ( -0.01) 4-2 @ 1.07% ( 0) Other @ 2.2% Total : 39.93%	1-1 @ 11.77% ( -0.03) 2-2 @ 5.91% ( 0.02) 0-0 @ 5.86% ( -0.05) 3-3 @ 1.32% ( 0.01) Other @ 0.18% Total : 25.05%	1-2 @ 8.03% ( 0.03) 0-1 @ 7.99% ( -0.02) 0-2 @ 5.45% ( 0.02) 1-3 @ 3.65% ( 0.04) 2-3 @ 2.69% ( 0.03) 0-3 @ 2.48% ( 0.03) 1-4 @ 1.24% ( 0.02) 2-4 @ 0.92% ( 0.02) Other @ 2.56% Total : 35.01%