DOHA, Qatar — With the global heavyweights on notice after Saudi Arabia and Japan pulled off stunning upsets over Argentina and Germany, Spain wasted no time putting Costa Rica to bed early in a 7-0 win. It was a historically dominant World Cup victory and one that sets Spain up as one of the favorite for the rest of the tournament.
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Rapid Reaction
1. What scoring problems?
Coming into the World Cup, there were valid questions about Spain’s attack. Combining World Cup qualifying and the UEFA Nations League, Spain ranked No. 17 in the region in goals (23 in 14 games) and had failed to score more than two goals in its last 11 competitive matches. Going against a Costa Rica side that usually employs a five-man backline in front of former Real Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas, a low-scoring game seemed possible, if not likely.
That line of thinking disappeared quickly. Costa Rica started by defending in a 4-4-2 block, which the Spanish attack sliced through with ease, almost immediately. Dani Olmo‘s opening goal in the 11th minute came on a well-worked sequence that saw him combine with Gavi, as the Barcelona midfielder’s deflected chip put him in front of goal where he calmly turned and finished.
When Marco Ascensio scored off a Jordi Alba assist ten minutes later, the result was already solidified and Ferran Torres‘ penalty gave Spain more goals through 31 minutes than 18 teams in the tournament had scored in full time to that point. The attacking show never slowed down.
