Serbia skipper Kolarov – the previous Manchester City protector – scored from 25 yards when he twisted the ball over the Costa Rica divider.

Aleksandar Kolarov nestled into fantastic free-kick to give Serbia a merited triumph in their opening World Cup Group E coordinate against Costa Rica.

Kolarov's exertion had an adequate curve to locate the best corner with Real Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas gripping at thin air as he urgently mixed crosswise over a goal.

Costa Rica just sporadically undermined the Serbia goal, with an early header over the crossbar from everyday protector Giancarlo Gonzalez their best exertion.

With amusements against Brazil and Switzerland to come, this was an essential counterpart for the two countries to press their qualifications to achieve the knockout stages.

Mladen Krstajic's Serbia side – the least positioned European country at Russia 2018 – now seems the best set to advance following a current second-half show.

The edge of triumph would have been more prominent had Navas not limited the point to deny Newcastle striker Aleksandar Mitrovic after he had been sent clear by the great Sergej Milinkovic-Savic prior in the amusement.

Serbia's Nemanja Matic, in the interim, was associated with a terrifying encounter with an individual from Costa Rica instructing staff in damage time as the Manchester United midfielder attempted to recover the ball after it left play.