Spain crush Costa Rica 7-0 in World Cup Group E

Spain were merciless in their opening Group E clash against Costa Rica as they slammed seven goals past veteran goalkeeper Keylor Navas to seal an emphatic 7-0 victory at the Al Thumama Stadium in Qatar on Wednesday.

Dani Olmo opened the floodgates as early as the 11th minute to put the 2010 winner ahead.

Another from Marco Asensio ten minutes later followed by a goal-bound penalty strike from Ferran Torres in the 31st minute gave Spain a comfortable cushion heading into the second period.

At the resumption, it took Torres just nine minutes to find his name on the scoresheet once more.

Spain’s Pablo Gavira, who won France Football’s Kopa Trophy – presented to the best performing player under the age of 21 – and the Golden Boy award, became the tournament’s second youngest goal scorer, at age 18 years and 110 days old, when he blasted a right-footed shot past Navas in the 74th to send them 5-0 up.

The goals didn’t stop there as Carlos Soler (90’) and Alvaro Morata (92’) affirmed a proper thumping of the Costa Ricans.

Spain’s dominance was clear in the aftermath as they had 82 per cent possession and completed a whopping 1,043 passes compared to Costa Rica’s 231.