{"id":503374,"date":"2026-06-21T03:09:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T03:09:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/503374\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T03:09:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T03:09:16","slug":"curacao-stand-firm-and-claim-historic-first-world-cup-point-against-ecuador-world-cup-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/503374\/","title":{"rendered":"Cura\u00e7ao stand firm and claim historic first World Cup point against Ecuador | World Cup 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s doubtful whether many Ecuador<\/a> supporters \u2013 or many others for that matter \u2013 had ever heard the name Eloy Room before this match. They will never forget it now.<\/p>\n

Watched by King Willem-Alexander and Queen M\u00e1xima of the Netherlands in the stands, the Cura\u00e7ao goalkeeper etched his name into the pantheon of World Cup legends with what must rank as one of the most heroic performances<\/a> in the long history of the competition.<\/p>\n

Room \u2013 a 37-year-old who has spent most of his career sitting on the bench for clubs in the Eredivisie \u2013 came within one save of breaking Tim Howard\u2019s all-time record of 16 in a single men\u2019s World Cup game from 2014, although that included a period of extra time. It earned the nation with the smallest population ever to make it to a finals a first ever point on their World Cup debut against highly rated opponents, as Dick Advocaat\u2019s side recovered from their 7-1 thrashing against Germany<\/a> a few days ago in some style.<\/p>\n

Eloy Room<\/a><\/p>\n

For Ecuador, who left the field to jeers from their fans as Cura\u00e7ao\u2019s players embraced theirs, it was another performance to forget and they know they must beat Germany in their final match to stand any chance of progressing.<\/p>\n

The thumping against Julian Nagelsmann\u2019s side had not dampened the spirit of the partying Cura\u00e7ao supporters, with as many as 5% of the country\u2019s 160,000 population estimated to have travelled to the United States. They more than held their own in the pre-match decibel challenge at the self-styled loudest stadium in the world that usually hosts serial Super Bowl winners the Kansas City Chiefs.<\/p>\n

But the section of blue-shirted fans who brought their own brass band to perform the national anthem before kick-off were totally outnumbered by an expectant Ecuadorian crowd boosted by a large local expat population, who were desperate to make amends for their surprise defeat to C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire that ended a 19-match unbeaten run.<\/p>\n

Ecuador\u2019s Gonzalo Plata cuts a frustrated figure during the match. Photograph: Alexandra Fechete\/SPP\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Their stylish coach Sebasti\u00e1n Beccacece \u2013 a long-haired Argentinian who started his career with the youth teams at Lionel Messi\u2019s childhood club, Newell\u2019s Old Boys, and is a disciple of the legendary Jorge Sampaoli \u2013 had urged against complacency as they prepared to face a side ranked 83rd by Fifa. \u201cWe are not Germany,\u201d he warned beforehand.<\/p>\n

With a team packed full of players starring for top European clubs, including Arsenal\u2019s Piero Hincapi\u00e9 and Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain in defence, La Tri were widely tipped to do well here after finishing second in South American qualifying.<\/p>\n

Enner Valencia should have settled their nerves inside the open two minutes when the veteran former West Ham striker raced through in goal. But Room \u2013 who earned himself a move to second-tier side Miami FC off the back of his performances in qualifying \u2013 produced an exceptional save to push his shot around the post.<\/p>\n

Having been treated to an impressive 5-1 victory<\/a> over Sweden by Ronald Koeman\u2019s side in Houston a few hours earlier, King Willem may have feared the worst for the territory less than 40 miles from the South American coast that was first colonised by the Dutch in the 17th century. Yet Cura\u00e7ao showed they are not here just to make up the numbers as a driving run from Sheffield United\u2019s Tahith Chong \u2013 the only member of Cura\u00e7ao\u2019s squad who was born on the island and sporting his own distinctive haircut for the occasion \u2013 lifted the tempo before Juninho Bacuna shot wide.<\/p>\n

Advocaat was further encouraged by the space his side were finding down the flanks as Ecuador\u2019s wing-backs pushed high up the pitch. The frustration was starting to grow for Beccacece after Pedro Vite curled wide and some slack passing undermined his side\u2019s dominance of possession. Valencia and John Yeboah both tested Room just before the break but the goalkeeper was again equal to their efforts.<\/p>\n

Players of Cura\u00e7ao embrace after claiming a famous point. Photograph: Amy Kontras\/EPA<\/p>\n

It was up to Ecuador to significantly raise their game and Beccacece hauled off Jordy Alc\u00edvar for the second half after he had picked up a booking and replaced him with Kevin Rodr\u00edguez. Room resumed where he left off by making a routine save from Mois\u00e9s Caicedo before somehow stopping a goalbound header from a corner that deflected off his own player.<\/p>\n

Cura\u00e7ao\u2019s discipline began to wane as they were pushed back but they continued to look dangerous on the break. A brilliant backheel from Bacuna set up his older brother and captain Leandro and Hern\u00e1n Gal\u00edndez ended up having to make a triple save from Livano Comenencia and then J\u00fcrgen Locadia.<\/p>\n

Room took centre stage yet again moments later when Rodriguez powered a header on target from a corner and the Cura\u00e7ao goalkeeper repelled further efforts from Valencia and Pacho. Hincapi\u00e9 headed over from a corner before Valencia wasted a golden chance to win it and condemn Ecuador to another bout of soul searching.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s doubtful whether many Ecuador supporters \u2013 or many others for that matter \u2013 had ever heard the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":503375,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":["post-503374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=503374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503374\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/503375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=503374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=503374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=503374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}