Nicaragua’s crucial 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying clash with Costa Rice started on a sour note, as police arrived at the stadium to detain one of their players.
Costa Rican police, the Public Force arrived at the National Stadium in La Sabana to detain a Nicaraguan footballer. The Public Force acted after a child support complaint was filed against the player.
The name of the Nicaraguan player has not been officially disclosed, but some outlets have named Byron Bonilla. Bonilla featured in the game against Costa Rica, albeit from the bench.
Police Arrive to Detain Nicaragua Footballer Before Costa Rica Match
In a surprising turn of events, the Public Force went to La Sabana supposedly to detain a Nicaraguan footballer — Byron Bonilla, according to some reports — shortly before their World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica.
The police received a court order from the claimant to detain the player after he admittedly defaulted on an agreed-upon child support payment.
However, the director of the Public Force, Marlon Cubillo, confirmed that the player was not detained after clearing his dues.
Cubillo told CRHoy:
“We were asked by a claimant in a child support case, who presented a court order to detain a member of the Nicaraguan delegation. The delegation was informed, the amount was paid, and the report was sent to the child support judge.”
¡Increíble situación!🚨‼️
La Federación de Fútbol de Nicaragua informó que la Fuerza Pública de Costa Rica llegó al estadio Nacional para buscar al jugador Byron Bonilla por un tema de pensión alimentaria pendiente.
El jugador no fue titular y hasta el momento no se sabe si… pic.twitter.com/5vEsDgm1kX
— Deportes RPC (@deportes_rpc) October 14, 2025
While the matter did not escalate further, the Nicaraguan national team was furious with how the events unfolded.
The team’s director, Javier Salinas, argued that the Public Force need not have come to the dressing room to solve the matter. Nicaragua also threatened to file a complaint to FIFA and CONCACAF.
In an interview with Repretel, Salinas revealed:
“We’ve been in Costa Rica for more than 48 hours. Why did they have to show up at the locker room? We’ll be filing a complaint with FIFA and Concacaf. It’s disgraceful that this happened.”
Nicaragua Suffer Heavy Defeat to Costa Rica in Crucial Qualifier
Nicaragua faced 3rd Round Group C opponents Costa Rica in their fourth World Cup qualifier on Monday night.
Having scored just a solitary point from the previous three games, Nicaragua needed a positive result against the hosts to keep their World Cup hopes alive. Unfortunately, the pre-match drama seemingly rattled Nicaragua, as they never managed to get a foothold in the contest.
Alonso Martinez opened the scoring for Costa Rica in the 12th minute. Nicaragua equalised through Junior Arteaga in the 26th minute, giving the travelling fans hope. However, Costa Rica restored their advantage just a couple of minutes later.
🇨🇷 Costa Rica golea a Nicaragua y se mantiene firme en la lucha por la clasificación. 🌎🏆#Somos26 | #CopaMundialFIFA pic.twitter.com/3rI0RYjeDM
— Copa Mundial FIFA 🏆 (@fifaworldcup_es) October 14, 2025
After the second goal, Costa Rica took control of the match. Manfred Ugalde scored the third in the 50th minute before Francisco Calvo put the cherry on top in injury time.
Following Monday’s win, Costa Rica have climbed to second place in the rankings. Honduras, with eight points, are currently leading the group.
