Joel Campbell's early goal sent Costa Rica to the World Cup for a third successive tournament as they edged past 10-man New Zealand 1-0 in their intercontinental playoff on Tuesday and secured the last place at the finals in Qatar.

The former Arsenal striker scored after three minutes for Costa Rica as he squeezed between two defenders to touch home a square pass from Jewison Bennette with the New Zealand defense slow to react.

But New Zealand had an equalizer chalked off by video assistant referee (VAR) for a foul in the build-up to Chris Wood putting the ball in the back of the net in the 39th minute.

A check found that Matthew Garbett had fouled Oscar Duarte in what looked a harsh decision.

Another VAR check also led to a 69th-minute red card for Kosta Barbarouses, leaving the Kiwis down to 10 men.

The playoff between the fourth-placed team in the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) region and the Oceania confederation winner, at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar, brought to an end the qualifying campaign for the 2022 finals in Qatar, which run from November 21 to December 18.

Costa Rica qualified for a sixth World Cup in total and will compete in Group E at the finals against Germany, Japan and Spain.

Campbell's goal had some 6,000 travelling supporters, out of a crowd of 10,803, on their feet but did not precipitate the expected dominant performance from the central American team.

Instead, it was New Zealand who looked the more enterprising of the teams, with center forward Wood, who was constantly watched by a cautious Costa Rican defense, the target of their attacks.

Alex Greive and Garbett also had chances in the first half but their shooting was off target.

Three changes by Costa Rica at halftime lifted them out of their slumber but it was still New Zealand who showed more attacking enterprise in the second half but without any return.

Costa Rica goalkeeper Kaylor Navas made a good stop in the 76th minute from Clayton Lewis as New Zealand toiled in search of an equalizer with Costa Rica sitting back and absorbing the pressure until the final whistle set off joyous celebrations.

FIFA Qatar 2022 World Cup group draw:

Group A: Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, Netherlands

Group B: England, Iran, U.S., Wales

Group C: Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland

Group D: France, Australia, Denmark, Tunisia

Group E: Spain, Costa Rica, Germany, Japan

Group F: Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia

Group G: Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon

Group H: Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, Republic of Korea

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Qatar 2022 World Cup draw: U.S. to face England, Iran; Spain to meet Germany in group stage