Spain started the World Cup finals in Doha with a devastating victory on Wednesday.
The Spanish defeated Costa Rica 7-0 (3-0).
Ferran Torres scored two goals, Dani Olmo, Marco Asensio, Gavi, Carlos Soler and Alvaro Morata scored one each.
The first goal could have been scored in the fifth minute when Dani Olmo found himself alone with the goalkeeper after Pedri’s pass, but when he hit the goal in the far corner from the corner of the goalkeeper’s area, he missed the left corner of the goal.
In the ninth minute, Marco Asensio just missed the right corner of the goal from the corner of the opponent’s penalty area, but the goalkeeper would probably have saved the flying ball in the bottom corner of the goal.
However, both Olmo and Asensio used the second chances. In the 11th minute, after Gavi’s pass behind the backs of the defenders and the ricochet, Olmo demonstrated an excellent ball handling technique, controlling the ball with one touch and turning 90 degrees around his axis and facing the goalkeeper Keylor Navas, who, running towards him, tried to prevent the danger to his own goal. However, Olmo moved the ball over him, sending it into the goal – 1:0 for Spain.
The Spaniards dominated the field, controlling the ball 87% of the time after 20 minutes played.
In the 21st minute, Asensio made it 2-0 with a kick in the lower right corner of the goal, without stopping the ball, after Alba’s pass.
On the other hand, in the 30th minute, Oskars Duarte hit the legs of the opponent in his own penalty area, and a minute later, Ferran Torres made it 3-0 with an accurate shot from the 11-meter mark. He shot on the left side of the goal, but Navas jumped in the opposite direction.
The dominance of the Spanish in the first half is also evidenced by their seven shots on goal, hitting the goal square three times, while the Costa Ricans never once threatened the safety of the goal guarded by Unai Simon.
After the pass towards the goal, Navas and Duarte both rushed at Torres on the edge of the goalkeeper’s area, but nobody got to the ball, and Torres, turning around his axis, hit the ball into the left corner of the goal – 4:0.
Immediately, as both teams started making substitutions, Torres was also substituted to save him for the next matches.
In the 74th minute, Gavi made it 5-0, who, after Alvaro Morata’s pass through the air from the left side of the penalty area, sent the ball into the goal from the air with the outside of his leg, before it hit the right post of the goal.
At the age of 18 years and 110 days, Gavi became Spain’s youngest ever scorer in the World Cup finals.
In the 90th minute, Carlos Soler made it 6-0, sending the ball into the right corner of the goal, which had bounced to him after Navas touched it, interrupting the cross.
In the second minute of stoppage time, Morata, after playing with Olmo, sent the ball into the left corner of the goal to make it 7-0.
Spain and Costa Rica competed in the finals for the first time. However, the national teams have played test matches three times, the last of them five years ago, when the Spanish won 5-0 in Malaga.
Alvaro Morata, who did not take part in last week’s test match against Jordan, also played for the Spanish national team. On the other hand, Costa Rica was not saved by its brightest star, goalkeeper Keylor Navas, who gained international recognition in the 2014 final tournament.
It has already been reported that in the second match of this group on Wednesday, the Japanese national team caused a surprise by defeating the four-time world champion Germany with 2:1 (0:1).
Ritsu Doan and Takuma Asano stood out for the Japanese national team, while Ilkay Gindoan scored for the German national team.
In group F, Croatia’s match with Morocco ended without a goal, but at 21:00 Belgium will face Canada. The final tournament is broadcast live by Latvian Television Channel 7.
32 teams are divided into eight groups of four national teams each. The two best teams from each group will enter the round of 16 and continue the fight for football’s most prestigious trophy.
Qatar is the first Arab country to host the FIFA World Cup. So far, one championship has been held in Asia, and it was jointly hosted by South Korea and Japan in 2002.
This is also the first tournament to be held in late autumn, rather than the usual summer months due to the extreme heat in Qatar.
This is the last tournament in which 32 teams participate, as from the next World Cup in 2026, 48 national teams will start the competition.
In the final tournament of the 2018 World Cup, which was held in Russia, France became the champion, beating Croatia 4:2 in the decisive match.
Spain national team: Unai Simons; Cesar Azpilicueta, Rodri, Hordi Alba (Alejandro Balde, 64 min.), Homeric Laporte; Sergio Busquets (capt., Koke, 64 min.), Gavi, Pedri (Carlos Soler, 57 min.); Marco Asensio (Nico Williams, 69th min.), Ferran Torres (Alvaro Morata, 57th min.), Dani Olmo.
Costa Rica national team: Keylor Navas (capt.); Oscar Duarte, Brian Oviedo (Ronald Matarrita, 82 min.), Francisco Calvo, Carlos Martinez (Kendall Waston, 46 min.); Keisher Fuller, Celso Borges (Brandon Aguilera, 72 min.), Jewison Bennett (Brian Ruiz, 61 min.), Yeltsin Tejeda; Anthony Contreras (Alvaro Zamora, 61 min.), Joel Campbell.
