Alonso Martínez is officially spending June with the Costa Rica national team as the New York City FC striker was named to Costa Rica's 26-player roster for a pair of 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers and the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup.
Martínez gets the call from Costa Rica national team manager Miguel Herrera thanks to another strong season in MLS, where the 26-year-old forward has eight goals and one assist in 15 appearances.
He's appeared 21 times for Costa Rica heading into this busy June of games, last playing for Los Ticos in late March in the two-legged Gold Cup qualifying tie they had to play against Belize to seal their spot in that tournament. Costa Rica won big in both legs against Belize (7-0 away, 6-1 at home) with Martínez scoring one goal and adding two assists while playing in both legs.
Before the Gold Cup, Costa Rica has a pair of World Cup qualifiers to contend with, first on June 7 away against the Bahamas at Wildey Turf in Bridgetown, Barbados at 7:00 pm ET. That will be followed by a home qualifier against Trinidad and Tobago on June 10 at Estadio Nacional in San José with kickoff scheduled for 9:00 pm ET.
Costa Rica currently sits in 1st Place in its qualification group during this phase of the Concacaf qualification cycle and will look to extend its strong position, with that Trinidad and Tobago match looking particularly important, as those are the top two teams through the first two qualifiers of this round.
Hudson River Blue Staff
After the World Cup qualification games, Martínez and his teammates's attention will turn to the Gold Cup. Costa Rica was drawn into Group A alongside the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Suriname for this year's installment of the biennial Gold Cup.
Their tournament run begins against Suriname on Sunday, June 15 in San Diego, CA, at Snapdragon Stadium, with kickoff scheduled for 11:00 pm ET. Costa Rica plays the Dominican Republic at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, TX, on Wednesday, June 18 at 7:00 pm ET, then closes out its Group A slate in a huge clash with Mexico on Sunday, June 22 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, NV, with kickoff scheduled for 10:00 pm ET.
Fox Sports has the broadcast rights to this summer's Gold Cup, so expect to turn to FS1 and the various other Fox Sports streaming and broadcast channels if you want to catch a glimpse of Martínez while on Costa Rica duty. New York City FC will miss him, though the extent to which they'll actually be missing him from their MLS lineup depends on how deep Costa Rica makes it in the Gold Cup, which runs through the Final to be played on July 6 at 7:00 pm ET at NRG Stadium in Houston, TX.
Martínez will definitely miss New York City's June 12 home match vs Atlanta United FC, since it falls right between Costa Rica's World Cup qualifiers and their first Gold Cup game. There's then a 16-day break between MLS matches for NYCFC, but if Costa Rica is in the late stages of the tournament, Martínez could also miss New York City's trip north of the Canadian border to face CF Montréal on June 28.
With Matt Freese also likely headed to the Gold Cup – especially given an injury to Columbus Crew goalkeeper and Freese competitor Patrick Schulte – New York City might be a lot shorthanded for a few MLS games.
Martínez's presence will be missed for however long he's away from New York City, but he'll be busy trying to recreate his goal-scoring form in MLS at the national team level. Martínez played in all four of Costa Rica's matches during the 2021 Gold Cup, but didn't find the scoresheet. He wasn't in the Costa Rica squad for the 2023 tournament, but his strong two seasons in MLS with NYCFC now have him back in the summer tournament here in 2025.
