Spain 7-0 Costa Rica: World Cup 2022 – as it happened (2024)

That’s it from me. Sid Lowe has filed his match report (third draft, thanks to Soler and Morata), and it’s as good as you’d expect.

Thanks for your company and emails – goodnight.

There’s more one game today: Belgium 7-0/1-2 Canada. You can follow that one with Beau Dure.

Graeme Souness’s verdict on Costa Rica

“I could have played where Busquets did. Today.” He turns 70 next May.

One last statgasm

“Costa Rica made more incomplete passes than Spain (67-62),” writes Tracy Mohr, “despite attempting about 20 per cent as many. That FIFA stat counter is indeed addictive.”

What it all means

If Japan beat Costa Rica on Sunday, and football’s smartest brains consider this a possibility, Germany will be out unless they get at least a point against Spain on Sunday night.

Realistically Germany need a win, and if that happens Spain will be in serious danger. Which is a strange thing to write when they have just won 7-0.

“Spain have just passed a team to death, but I’m fairly sure the ITV commentary team didn’t mention tiki-taka even once,” says Pádraig McAuliffe. “Let’s see if someone can commentate on Brazil tomorrow without mentioning samba.”

Clive Tyldesley and Lee Dixon may be above cliches, but the Guardian MBM most certainly is not.

That’s an adequate statement of intent from Spain: their biggest victory at a World Cup. t was the kind of thrashing that only Spain can dispense. Costa Rica were tiki-takad to death, with Spain racking up an eye-watering 994 completed passes to Costa Rica’s 166.

The goals came from Dani Olmo, Marco Asensio, Ferran Torres (2), Gavi (who became the third youngest goalscorer in World Cup history), Carlos Soler and Alvaro Morata. It’s hard to know what it tells us about Spain, because Costa Rica were so compliant, but, well, they won 7-0.

Peep peep!

90+8 min Here’s Gavi’s goal, which put Spain 5-0 up, I think.

90+7 min Joel Campbell is booked for taking his frustration out on Balde’s left foot.

90+6 min When they won the World Cup in 2010, Spain scored eight goals in seven games. They almost get their eighth here when Soler strokes wide from the edge of the area after a surging run by Gavi.

90+5 min

It was another fine goal. Morata received the ball on the edge of the area with his back to goal. He created a bit of space by playing a wall pass with Dani Olmo and then threaded a low left-footed shot past Navas.

Sid will love this.

90+2 min The joys of writing a live match report.

90+1 min Eight minutes of added time.

Two of the Spain substitutes combined for the goal. Williams roasted Matarrita and drove a perfect cross into a dangerous area. Navas had to go for it but could only push it to Soler, and he swept the ball nonchalantly into the net.,

This is now Spain’s biggest World Cup victory!

89 min Morata reaches a through pass before Navas, then ignores the ball. That was a bit strange. I can only assume he thought/knew he was offside, but there was no harm in trying to score because there was no chance of any other Spain player getting to the ball.

88 min “Had to leave you to participate in a yoga class,” says Bill Hargreaves. “Looks like I missed a training match for Spain. Re that Ringo Star song - could Budweiser potentially adopt that as a tournament anthem?”

I mean, I’ve heard worse ideas.

88 min Next up for these teams: Japan v Costa Rica (Sunday, 10am GMT) and, yes please, Spain v Germany (Sunday, 7pm GMT)

87 min Dani Olmo’s floats a chip towards the far corner that is headed away by one of the Costa Rica defenders, I’m not sure which.

86 min “You mentioned the Brazil game in 1990,” says Fulham fan Richard Hirst. “Bryan Ruiz was probably playing then as well!”

83 min Completed passes: Spain 863-124 Costa Rica.

Meanwhile, in Bulawayo, a cover drive for four off Ray Price takes Jacques Kallis into the 140s.

82 min: Costa Rica substitution Ronald Matarrita replaces Bryan Oviedo.

81 min Navas saves with his legs from Morata, though he was offside so it wouldn’t have counted.

81 min Costa Rica haven’t had a shot at goal, on or off target. On ITV, Clive Tyldesley’s – whose commentaries remain such a pleasure – tells us that the last such shot-shy team at a World Cup was, yep, Costa Rica against Brazil in 1990.

80 min I may have gambled responsibly by putting £0.00 on Spain, despite them being my tip for the tournament, but I’m dumping the farm on them for 2026, and 2030, and maybe 2034.

79 min Waston squares up to Koke and then Gavi, who is about half his size, and then Campbell gets involved. The referee settles for words rather than cards.

At the start of the game, Gavi became Spain’s youngest player at a World Cup, and now he’s their youngest goalscorer. Balde went on a thrilling run infield and slid the ball through to Morata. Navas dived bravely at his feet but Morata retrieved the ball on the left side of the area, turned and lofted a pass to Gavi. He ran onto the ball, 12 yards out, and flicked a daisy-cutting volley that went into the net off the inside of the post. Gavi’s technique to control the shot, slicing it ever so slightly with the outside of the foot, was immaculate.

Gavi marks his special day with a lovely goal!

74 min I’m becoming addicted to following Spain’s completed pass count. I haven’t had this much fun since I tracked Jacques Kallis’s Test average as he churned out another unbeaten hundred against Zimbabwe.

72 min: Costa Rica substitution The match is petering out amid the substitutions. Brandon Aguilera, 19, replaces Celso Borges, 34.

71 min “Thanks for forwarding on all of those,” writes Ben Lake. “Changing browser (I was already on Chrome) but apparently ITV get on better with Firefox. Massive thanks to everyone!”

When good and vaguely tech-savvy people come together, great things can be achieved.

69 min: Spain substitution Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams (no relation) replaces Marco Asensio.

68 min Calvo lunges wearily at Soler and is booked.

68 min Completed passes: Spain 741-103 Costa Rica. This really is one helluva doing.

67 min In theory Japan’s defeat has blown the group wide open,” says Kári Tulinius, “but going by today’s performances, Japan and Spain should comfortably beat Costa Rica and Germany respectively, leaving a pair of dead rubbers for the third round.”

The Group of Death: Redefined.

66 min Thanks for all your ITV Player suggestions, which I’ve forwarded on to Ben.

Meanwhile, Spain are still pushing for more goals, and rightly so – it’s not beyond the realms that they, Japan and Germany could all end up on six points in this group.

64 min: Spain substitution Barcelona’s teenage left-back Alejandro Balde comes on for his debut in place of Jordi Alba. Koke replaces Sergio Busquets.

63 min Morata misses a half chance, shooting well wide of the near post from a tight angle. He made an excellent run onto Azpilicueta’s pass but then lost his bearings a touch.

63 min “Try a different browser for ITV Hub,” says Zachary Scahill. “Chrome works for me etc.”

62 min: Costa Rica substitution Bryan Ruiz, 37, and Alvaro Zamora replace Anthony Contreras and Jewison Bennette.

61 min How good are Spain? For now the question is interrogative rather than rhetorical, though that will change if they submit Germany to death by silk on Sunday.

60 min Here’s Spain’s fourth goal, the defending for which left plenty to be desired.