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KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – JUNE 20: Eloy Room #1 of Curacao applauds fans after the 0-0 draw during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group E match between Ecuador and Curacao at Kansas City Stadium on June 20, 2026 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Charlotte Wilson\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Charlotte Wilson<\/p>\n
Getty Images<\/p>\n
Miami FC goalkeeper Eloy Room set a World Cup record with 15 saves for Curacao in a 0-0 tie against Ecuador in Kansas City on Saturday night, earning the tiny Caribbean island<\/a> its first ever point in tournament history.<\/p>\n Room, 37, made the most saves in a 90-minute regulation match, and was one short of the all-time tournament record of 16 saves set by U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard in a 2-1 extra-time loss to Belgium in the 2014 Brazil World Cup.<\/p>\n The match was watched by members of the Dutch Royal Family, including King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima, as Curacao is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.<\/p>\n Room got a kiss from the Queen after the historic performance.<\/p>\n \u201cI was the first to have a kiss, it was a small kiss, I hope my wife doesn\u2019t hear this; no, it\u2019s exceptional,\u201d Room said, smiling. \u201cI had never met them before and having them present at such a historic match is exceptional. It\u2019s wonderful for them to sense the atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n Room said his confidence grew with each save as the game wore on.<\/p>\n \u201cWe all grew and this was a team effort,\u201d he said in the post-match interview. \u201cWe\u2019ve been fighting, fighting until the last minute and earning a point this way for Curacao is absolutely great.\u201d<\/p>\n It was the second time Room made history for the national team. His shutout of Jamaica last November sent Cura\u00e7ao to its first World Cup. Curacao is the smallest nation ever, by size and population, to take part in the tournament.<\/p>\n The team lost its tournament opener 7-1 to Germany but rebounded with the tie Saturday.<\/p>\n Room said he was inspired by that performance against Jamaica and the memory of his father, Lesley Room, who died on November 12, 2025, just before the national team\u2019s World Cup qualification matches.<\/p>\n \u201cMy father was with me,\u201d he said. \u201cI gave everything I could to stop all the balls, and the most important thing is that we earned a point.\u201d<\/p>\n Room is a former MLS Cup winner with the Columbus Crew and this season signed with USL club Miami FC in the second tier of U.S. professional soccer. He arrived in Miami with an impressive resume after stints in the Netherlands\u2019 Eredivisie (Vitesse, PSV), Belgium (Cercle Brugge), and five MLS seasons with the Crew from 2019 to 2023, during which he won two MLS Cups.<\/p>\n The move to Miami made sense as Room wanted to get re-acclimated to the United States and it was close to Boca Raton, where the Curacao national team wound up having its World Cup base camp.<\/p>\n Room has made 72 appearances for the Curacao national team and is the joint all-time most capped player for his country, sharing the record with his teammate Leandro Bacuna.<\/p>\n He kept 11 clean sheets during World Cup qualification and has more than 100 career clean sheets for club and country.<\/p>\n Born in the Netherlands, Room made the decision to play for Curacao in 2015 after being contacted by Dutch-Curacaoan football legend Patrick Kluivert. He chose the island nation over the Dutch national team because he found it to be an interesting project and wanted to achieve his childhood dream of reaching a World Cup.<\/p>\n \u201cThe whole reason that I chose to play for Curacao is that I had a dream as a little kid to make it to the World Cup with Curacao,\u201d he said in an interview with FIFA.com. \u201cWhen [Patrick] Kluivert contacted me to play for Curacao, first of all, I was really honored that Kluivert called me because he\u2019s a big legend. I was surprised but also really proud. It was a proud moment for me and my family.<\/p>\n \u201cI was one of the first guys who chose to play for Curacao as a professional. Kluivert said if I can get a player like you to join this project, it will attract a lot of other players.\u201d<\/p>\n And that it did. Several Curacao players who played youth soccer in the Netherlands, including Room\u2019s Miami FC teammate Jurgen Locadia, said they decided to play for Curacao because of Room.<\/p>\n Room said he always felt a connection with the island, even while living abroad.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I was young, we went there for vacations to see family,\u201d he said in the leadup to the World Cup. \u201cIt was always a special moment to go there. The island is beautiful. It\u2019s a warm feeling when you go there, and I always feel at home.<\/p>\n \u201cI still have family living there. Obviously, my father\u2019s from there. My mother also lived in Curacao for a lot of years when she was younger. We have a deep connection with the island, so I\u2019m so happy to give something back to the people and put Curacao on the map. And now I think almost everyone in the world knows what Curacao is.\u201d<\/p>\n Curacao\u2019s legendary Dutch coach Dick Advocaat has coached a number of national teams, including Russia, Serbia, Belgium and South Korea. He was moved by this Curacao team\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know how far we came, coming from nothing, and now, to see us playing an away match in front of 60,000 spectators, and match where we actually had opportunities of winning, that only gives us pride,\u201d Advocaat said.<\/p>\n \u201cToday the team was fighting like lions, and you see what you can achieve playing against a team that was playing at a very high level with very high individual levels of players.\u201d<\/p>\n The draw keeps both Curacao and Ecuador alive in the race for knockout play with one group game to go. Cura\u00e7ao faces Ivory Coast in Philadelphia on Thursday and Ecuador plays Germany in New Jersey.<\/p>\n This story was originally published June 21, 2026 at 12:20 AM.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Miami Herald<\/p>\n![\"TOPSHOT](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/GettyImages-2282046135.jpg\" "\\"GettyImages-2282046135.jpg\\"")
TOPSHOT – Curacao’s goalkeeper #01 Eloy Room makes a save during the 2026 World Cup Group E football match between Ecuador and Curacao at the Kansas City Stadium in Kansas City on June 20, 2026. (Photo by JUAN MABROMATA \/ AFP via Getty Images) JUAN MABROMATA AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n