USA vs Costa Rica — Friendlies 2018
Match Prediction
Statistical Prediction
Based on goals from last 24+ matches
USA58%
Costa Rica20%✓ Correct in 50 of 100 matches — 6 more than always backing the home side
The model picks a winner (home or away) for each finished match using only pre-kickoff data, then checks it against the real result: 49.7% correct across 106,786 matches, vs 44.3% for always backing the home side.
Home picks 50.7% correct · Away picks 47.3% correct
Football matches only. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Expected goals in this match
What is xG?
Every shot is scored 0–1 by how likely it is to be a goal from that spot — a chance in the middle of the box ≈ 0.4, a long shot from a tight angle ≈ 0.03, a penalty ≈ 0.76. Add them up over a match and that is the xG.
The scoreline can lie: you can win 1-0 on a fluke while creating half the chances. xG shows who was really closer to scoring — and over a season it predicts results better than goals alone.
USA creates 88% more chances
Season form · 47 home / 24 away
creates per match
allows per match
finishing
Total goals
- Over54
- Under46
3+ goals likely
Both teams score
- Yes53
- No47
Both teams likely to score
Score probability
Probability of each scoreline, %
USA ↓
Most likely 1–0 (11%) · grid covers 96% of scorelines
More markets
Total goals
Double chance
Winning margin
Team goals
Draw no bet
Combos
Model probabilities, not odds. For information only.
How is this calculated?
Every number below comes from this match — nothing is made up.
Recent form of each side
USA at home — creates 1.72, concedes 1.19 · 47 matches
Costa Rica away — creates 0.79, concedes 2.00 · 24 matches
⚑ Home and away form are counted separately — the home-field edge is already baked into these numbers.
Expected goals for this match
USA attack 1.72 + Costa Rica defence 2.00 → ÷2 → 1.86
Costa Rica attack 0.79 + USA defence 1.19 → ÷2 → 0.99
Each side's attack is blended with the other's defence, then averaged.
Chance of every scoreline
From those two numbers a Poisson distribution gives the probability of each exact score — the grid shown above.
The answer to "why 58%?"
USA at 58% is simply the biggest of the three — that is the pick.
What the model can't see
It reads only the stats of recent matches. It knows nothing about:
- injuries & suspensions
- the matchday lineup
- motivation — cup, relegation, a title race
- weather & pitch condition
- in-game coaching decisions
So 58% does not mean "USA will win" — it means "on the available stats, this is the most likely result."
Statistical model based on expected goals (xG). For informational purposes only.
Player of the match
Match Events
Possession
Shots
Pass accuracy
Statistics
USA host Costa Rica on Thursday, 23 January 2025 at 00:00. The match is part of the Friendlies 2018/2019 season.
USA 3 – 0 Costa Rica
USA beat Costa Rica 3-0 in Friendlies on January 23, 2025.
Goals: Brian White (21'), Caden Clark (77'), Patrick Agyemang (90').
USA controlled possession (58%) and registered 11 shots to 9.
The match was played at Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando, Florida.