Spain outclassed Costa Rica and began their World Cup in spectacular fashion with a brilliant passing performance from Gavi, who made his debut on the international stage with a brilliant volley.
The 2010 champions cruised to victory with two goals from Ferran Torres, but Gavi’s outstanding volleyed goal—where the Barcelona teenager used the outside of his foot to steer a dropping ball home via the post—was the best of their seven goals.
There was never any indication that another shock would occur in this competition, despite the fact that Spain’s Group E rivals Germany were the most recent casualties after losing to Japan in overtime earlier on Wednesday.
Costa Rica was unable to keep up with La Roja’s pace, movement, and precision when they advanced because of their complete dominance from the outset.
Dani Olmo and Marco Asensio both missed with their opening shots in the first ten minutes for the Euro 2020 semi-finalists, but they did not have to wait long to take the lead.
When Olmo encountered Gavi’s deft chipped pass into the area, he had some work to do as well. However, he used his strength to hold off Oscar Duarte and then span into space to expertly slot past the charging Keylor Navas.
Costa Rica, who was the last team to qualify for Qatar, had a rocky start, and things quickly got worse for the 2014 quarterfinalists.
Once more, Spain moved unimpeded up the middle of the field before the ball was spread left to Jordi Alba, whose driven cross was met forcefully by Asensio. Navas, however, could have saved the situation much better.
Just after the halfway point, after Duarte had hacked at Alba in the box, Torres converted a penalty kick by sending Navas the wrong way.
After the break, however, Spain’s goal-hungry nature meant that Costa Rica would suffer even more.
Torres took advantage of more shoddy defending to increase the score to 4-0 by bursting into the box, picking up a loose ball, and then calmly firing home.
The 18-year-old Gavi found a finish to match his impressive performance after meeting a cross from substitute Alvaro Morata, adding gloss to an already glittering performance.
After Navas mishandled a cross, another substitute, Carlos Soler, increased the score to six, and in stoppage time, Morata completed the scoring with a one-two with Olmo.
