Miguel Herrera woke up this Wednesday in Costa Rica not only with the bitter taste of the Costa Rican team's elimination from the 2026 World Cup, but also as the target of the strongest criticism from the Costa Rican press who attribute to him the responsibility for his team's monumental failure.

The main newspapers highlighted in their front pages the poor performance of the Costa Rican national team under the leadership of the successful Mexican coach, who in the 2014 World Cup led his country's team to a memorable performance in the tournament held in Brazil.

Based on that memory and his track record of titles with Club America, the Costa Rican leadership believed that the presence of "Piojo" Herrera would be the missing piece to take the Ticos back to the level they reached in 2014, where they reached the quarterfinals before being eliminated on penalties by the Netherlands (then Holland). However, the Mexican failed spectacularly in his endeavor.

The main question, and one that the Costa Rican press considers unbelievable, is that with 48 places available for the 2026 World Cup, their team failed to qualify, especially when the path was Free from Mexico, the United States, and Canada, they started as favorites and finished third in their group, behind Haiti and Honduras.

The Criticism

After the 0-0 draw with Honduras that dashed their last hopes of fighting for a World Cup berth, the Costa Rican press commented, as did the newspaper CR Hoy, which published an article titled: “Hello and Goodbye: The 10 Months of ‘Piojo’ That Left Costa Rica Without a World Cup,” highlighting the numbers the Mexican achieved at the helm of the Costa Rican team.

And added that: “The performance ended up being a poor 60%, so, if it could be seen as a school exam, it ends more than failing.”

Meanwhile, La Teja highlighted that:“Has Piojo Herrera already left the country after the major failure with the Costa Rican National Team?”, adding that: “Miguel “Piojo” Herrera was dismissed as coach of the Costa Rican National Team after their elimination from the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, a blow that ultimately sealed his fate after the poor performance shown during his tenure.”

This outlet also asserted that despite the failure and the criticism, Miguel Herrera remains in Costa Rica, despite all the animosity directed at him.

No less severe were the criticisms from Deportes CR, which published: “Coach Miguel Herrera only just understood tonight that in football, you win with goals. And there is no other way to get there. He discovered the obvious, as they say.”

For its part, La Nacion also commented on Piojo's work, which it did not hesitate to blame for the Costa Rican National Team's failure to qualify for the next World Cup, although it also blamed the players and even Fedefutbol.