Gold Cup: Costa Rica edge Dominican Republic on late goal

Field Level Media|published: 06/18/2025, 9:26pm EDT

Jun 18, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Costa Rica defender Jeyland Mitchell (3) and defender Juan Pablo Vargas (4) celebrate post game against the Dominican Republic during a group stage match of the 2025 Gold Cup at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Costa Rica overcame an early deficit and broke a second-half stalemate with a dramatic Josimar Alcocer goal in the 85th minute to put away the Dominican Republic in CONCACAF Gold Cup play Wednesday evening in Arlington, Texas.

In the decisive sequence, Manfred Ugalde gathered a cross in the center of the field just outside the 18-yard box. He found Alcocer with a sliver of space between defenders, and Alcocer sprinted toward the goal before chipping the ball over goalkeeper Xavier Valdez.

Ugalde created the deadlock by converting a penalty kick in the 45th minute, getting Valdez to guess to the right and burying it toward the left.

Joao Urbaez scored for the Dominican Republic in the 16th minute. He followed a Kaylor Navas save and getting to the rebound and knocking in a right-footed shot to give his side a 1-0 lead.

The win moved Costa Rica (2-0-0, 6 points) on top in Group A, with Mexico (1-0-0, 3 points) having an opportunity to match them against Suriname (0-1-0, 0 points) later Wednesday in Arlington. The Dominican Republic (0-2-0, 0 points) sit last in the group.

The top two teams from each group advance to the quarterfinals.

--Field Level Media