Costa Rica 0, England 0: Costa Rica finish top of Group D after draw with England

In one of the World Cup's most forgettable matches, Costa Rica earned its spot into the knockout round after registering a scoreless draw against a bitterly disappointing English team.

Even the English fans in attendance whistled and jeered their team for a lack of attacking pressure and creativity in the final third, a problem that plagued them for the duration of the tournament, and one that sees them go home after the group stage in last place with a single point.

Costa Rica started the match with ambitions of capturing all three points with positive battles against the English defence, but seemed content with a draw as the match wore on and advance to the knockout round of the World Cup for the first time since 1990.

The match was not a glowing endorsement for the beautiful game and failed to follow the trend of the 2014 World Cup matches which have been nothing short of thrilling so far.

The match started off well for the Central Americans as they registered the game's first opportunity on target, courtesy of a deflected Joel Campbell shot that sailed inches wide of the net. Their play on the defensive end was impressively organized as well, snuffing out the majority of England's opportunities around the box in the opening 20 minutes. 

England finally started to turn things around as the half drew to an end. They saw their most promising efforts on goal come from striker Daniel Sturridge, but his long-range shots failed to test keeper Keylor Navas.

England had the momentum when the Three Lions stringed together three corner kicks, with the third producing a Sturridge header that floated over the net.

There was a clear physical approach from the English in the minutes after halftime when they accumulated two yellow cards in the opening 10 minutes and could have been down a man after Sturridge's nasty studs up challenge on Navas.

After picking up a yellow card, Adam Lallana was subbed off in favour of Raheem Sterling who was able to link up with Liverpool teammate Sturridge for a tidy give-and-go that set the striker up for a close-range shot. Navas, however, did well to close down and limit his view on goal as the ball went wide of the net.

England, desperate for a goal, introduced Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard, the latter likely making his final appearance for the Three Lions, into the match, but neither was able to make a positive impact.

Costa Rica looked content with a draw for much of the second half and only registered one shot on goal in the final 45 minutes and will move on to play the runners-up in Group C.

Fortunately for this fan, he was lucky and didn't have to witness an English loss at the World Cup.