With a 7-0 hammering of Costa Rica, Spain left their stamp on the 2022 World Cup and sent a message to teams expected to win the competition.
Prior to the competition, Group E was called the “group of doom,” but Spain will face Germany with little concern after dismantling Costa Rica with perfect ease and recording their largest World Cup victory.
After 11 minutes, Dani Olmo gave La Roja the lead with their 100th World Cup goal, and Marco Asensio increased their advantage 10 minutes later.
Before Gavi scored the best of the goals and made history by being Spain’s youngest World Cup goal scorer, Ferran Torres scored both of Spain’s goals on either side of halftime, once from the penalty spot and once from open play.
Gavi was one of two youngsters chosen by Spain manager Luis Enrique, and he and Pedri both excelled in a squad that had few vulnerabilities. Carlos Soler and Alvaro Morata added the last two goals for Spain.
After entering the game with eight clean sheets in their previous 13 international matches, Costa Rica was aiming to continue their current solid defensive performance.
However, after a dismal start, Los Ticos coach Luis Fernando Suarez may need to rethink his strategy ahead of Costa Rica’s match against Japan on Sunday.