Costa Rica advances to U19 semis

BURNABY, Canada, May 15, 2026: Momentum switched several times in today’s quarterfinal between Panama and Costa Rica at the U19 NORCECA Boys’ Continental Volleyball Championship in Burnaby, British Columbia.

Eventually, Panama fell to Costa Rica 2-3 (22-25, 25-19, 11-25, 25-15, 7-15). The result means that Costa Rica advances to the semifinals on Saturday and gains a World Championship berth.

Costa Rica’s head coach Robertocarlo Arguello was emotional when asked about what this win means for this team: “In 2023, I had the opportunity to go to the World Championship in Argentina. We came with a team where we had to replace six players, and when we arrived here I told the players that we could dream big because we had everything needed to get the job done. The first matches were tough as we tried to find our rhythm, but as the days went by and with training, we were able to adjust. Thank God everything worked out and we qualified for the World Championship.”

Being in the top four guarantees Costa Rica at spot in the U19 World Championship next year.

Today’s contest was almost even in attack points, with one more for the winning side (51-50), and Costa Rica out-blocked its opponent 19-9 and gained more points from Panama’s errors (24-19). Panama did have more aces - 5 compared with 1 for Costa Rica.

Felipe Bolaños Alvarado led the scoresheet for Costa Rica with 23 points.

Panama’s Wen Downer was match top scorer with 29 points, which included five blocks.