One of the most popular video game franchises in the world recently released its new version and gives a slight nod to the incredible progress that Costa Rica has made on the international football scene. As reported by Zacks Equity Research and Yahoo Finance, Electronic Arts’ (EA) FIFA 15 is now leading the video game sales charts in the United Kingdom, with retail purchases making up to 80 percent of this lucrative market.

 

In the previous 14 iterations of EA’s FIFA series, Costa Rica has been conspicuously absent. This football simulation series focuses on premier clubs such as Real Madrid of La Liga Española and Chelsea of the Barclay’s English Premier League, and it also focuses on star players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney, etc. As such, EA tends to feature teams from the world’s most popular football leagues, and Costa Rica’s Primera División has failed to meet the company’s criteria.

 

La Sele, the national football team of Costa Rica that surprised and delighted football fans at the FIFA World Cup in Brazil earlier this year, did not make the FIFA 15 cut. As reality television producer Mark Lugo recently pointed out in his blog, it remains to be seen whether current major signings such as Keylor Navas to the Real Madrid and Joel Campbell to Arsenal made it into the video game.

 

For now, we have this very small consolation: The flag of Costa Rica clearly appears in some international club matches, as Mr, Lugo’s sharp eyes noticed while watching the video game trailer below. At about the one-minute mark, our proud flag flies from the stands.