Day 11: The Islands Hold the Line — Room's Record, Cape Verde's Fairytale and Two 4–0 Statements

Day 11 is a day to file under “the small print.” Two of its five games kicked off under Saturday-night floodlights in Kansas City and Monterrey — late enough that the clock had already ticked over to June 21 in UTC terms, which is why they sit on this date in the schedule. The other three ran through Sunday afternoon and into a humid Miami night. Stitch them together and you get the cleanest narrative of the group stage so far: the two smallest nations in the tournament, Curaçao and Cape Verde, refused to lose, bookending a day on which Spain and Japan reminded everyone of the gulf in class — and Belgium reminded everyone they still can’t find the net.

Ecuador 0–0 Curaçao: the night Eloy Room became unbeatable

Some 0–0s are stalemates. This one was a siege. Ecuador had 28 shots, 15 of them on target, 75% of the ball and an expected-goals figure of 3.06 — and still couldn’t score, because Curaçao’s 37-year-old goalkeeper Eloy Room decided he wasn’t going to let them.

Room made 15 saves, which Sky Sports and ESPN both logged as the most by any goalkeeper in 90 minutes of a World Cup match since records began in 1966 — one shy of Tim Howard’s all-time single-game mark of 16, set across 120 minutes against Belgium in 2014. The tone was set inside three minutes, when Enner Valencia raced clear with only the keeper to beat and Room clawed his shot around the post. “I just felt unbeatable, like nothing was going to get past me,” he told FIFA afterwards, calling it “the finest performance of my career.” Ecuador’s own goalkeeper Hernán Galíndez was gracious in defeat: “He had the night of his life.”

The context makes it absurd. Curaçao — population around 158,000, the smallest nation ever to reach a World Cup, coached by 78-year-old Dick Advocaat, the oldest man ever to manage at one — had been thrashed 7–1 by Germany in their opener. This was their first World Cup point, in front of 68,598 in Kansas City. Sebastián Beccacece’s Ecuador, who turned 0–0 draws into an art form in qualifying, now sit third and must beat Germany to be sure of going through. Curaçao, somehow, will reach the last 32 if they beat Ivory Coast.

Tunisia 0–4 Japan: Ueda’s night, and the 1,000th match

Over in Monterrey, Japan turned the World Cup’s 1,000th game — as logged by Asahi Shimbun — into a statement. Their 4–0 win was led by Ayase Ueda, who scored twice and set up another, and it made Japan the first Asian side to score four in a World Cup match.

Daichi Kamada opened it after four minutes, sweeping in Keito Nakamura’s cutback. Ueda drilled a low second from the edge of the box on 31, flicked Junya Ito clear for the third on 69, and headed in Kaishu Sano’s cross late on. FotMob noted Ueda became only the third Japan player to register a goal and an assist in the same World Cup game, after Keisuke Honda (2010) and Takashi Inui (2018) — fitting for a striker who won the Eredivisie golden boot with 25 goals for Feyenoord this season. “I was disappointed in the last tournament, so I feel like I’ve finally been able to redeem myself,” Ueda told Japanese media.

With 62% of the ball and an xG of 2.07 to 0.05, Hajime Moriyasu’s side were never troubled, even with Takefusa Kubo missing through injury. Japan move to four points, level with the Netherlands. For Hervé Renard’s Tunisia, beaten 5–1 by Sweden and now 4–0 by Japan, it is the end of the road with a game to spare.

Spain 4–0 Saudi Arabia: Yamal and Oyarzabal answer the questions

After being held to a goalless draw by Cape Verde on matchday one — “one of the most shocking results in World Cup history,” per Sky Sports — the European champions needed a response in Atlanta. They produced one inside 25 minutes.

Lamine Yamal, making his first start since a hamstring injury, slid in Mikel Oyarzabal’s low cross on 10 minutes for his first World Cup goal. At 18 years and 343 days, ESPN noted, he was only a few days older than Lionel Messi was at his first — a comparison coach Luis de la Fuente swatted away even as he admitted, “Lamine is at the point where you have to restrain him.” Then Oyarzabal took over: the Real Sociedad forward, scorer of Spain’s Euro 2024 final winner and quietly riding 15 goals in his last 15 caps, struck twice in three minutes and hit the bar before the break. Hassan Al-Tambakti turned a Marc Cucurella delivery into his own net early in the second half for 4–0.

With the job done, both Yamal and Oyarzabal — named man of the match — were withdrawn at half-time. “Being 3–0 up allowed me to rest, so it was perfect,” Yamal told DAZN. “Drawing a match you know you should win stings.” A late Ferran Torres goal was chalked off for offside. Spain top Group H on four points and now meet Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay; Saudi Arabia, who collected yellow cards through Salem Al-Dawsari and Mohamed Kanno, are bottom.

Belgium 0–0 Iran: ten men, no goals, more questions

If Spain found their answers, Belgium only found more questions. For the second game running the Red Devils dominated the ball — 71% of it, 21 shots, an xG of 1.77 — and for the second game running they didn’t score. Their only goal of this World Cup remains an Egyptian own goal.

Iran were excellent value for their point in Los Angeles. Mehdi Taremi had a cleverly worked Ehsan Hajisafi free-kick finish ruled out for offside on 25 minutes, and goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand made seven saves, twice denying Maxim De Cuyper, including a glaring chance late on. At the other end Thibaut Courtois had to match him. Belgium’s afternoon unravelled on 66 minutes when Nathan Ngoy miscontrolled a back-pass and hauled down Taremi as he ran through — a straight red from referee Dario Herrera, as reported by FIFA and Sky Sports.

Romelu Lukaku, handed a rare start, looked short of sharpness; Jeremy Doku was missing through illness. “The two best players — De Bruyne and Lukaku — are not match fit,” Zlatan Ibrahimović observed on punditry duty. Every game in Group G has now ended level. Belgium and Iran share second on two points behind Egypt, and Al Jazeera flagged the obvious: Rudi Garcia’s side are flirting with a group-stage exit for a second consecutive World Cup.

Uruguay 2–2 Cape Verde: the Blue Sharks do it again

The day’s final act belonged, fittingly, to another island. Cape Verde — debutants, the second-smallest nation ever to qualify, written off by most pundits before kick-off — backed up their goalless draw with Spain by taking a point off two-time winners Uruguay in Miami. The BBC noted they are the first debutants to go unbeaten across their first two World Cup games since Senegal in 2002.

Kevin Pina put them ahead on 21 with a 30-yard free-kick that arrowed through the wall and past Fernando Muslera — Cape Verde’s first World Cup goal. Uruguay, as you’d expect of a Bielsa side stung into life, turned it around before the break: Maxi Araújo nodded in a rebound after Sidny Lopes Cabral headed against his own post on 44, then Agustín Canobbio volleyed home Araújo’s cross in the sixth minute of first-half stoppage time. But on 61, Mathías Olivera’s loose square pass drew the 40-year-old Muslera charging out of his goal, and substitute Hélio Varela flicked the ball over him and rolled it into an empty net. Araújo thought he had a 68th-minute winner, only for VAR to flag his heel offside.

Uruguay finished with 66% possession, 16 shots and an xG of 2.28, and still couldn’t win; Federico Valverde blazed a late free-kick over. With Darwin Núñez dropped to the bench and a 1–1 draw against Saudi Arabia already on the record, Bielsa — set to leave the post after the tournament — is under real scrutiny. Cape Verde, level with Uruguay on two points, will reach the knockouts if they beat Saudi Arabia in their finale.

Where it leaves us

Four groups, one round to go, and the new 48-team maths keeping almost everyone alive — remember that the top two in each group plus the eight best third-placed sides advance.

Group E: Germany are through-bound on six points, Ivory Coast on three. Ecuador and Curaçao, both on one, meet Germany and Ivory Coast respectively on June 25 with everything still possible.
Group F: Netherlands and Japan lead on four, Sweden lurk on three, Tunisia are out. Japan–Sweden and Tunisia–Netherlands close the group on June 25.
Group G: Egypt top on four, Iran and Belgium on two, New Zealand on one — and every match drawn so far. Belgium get the lowest-ranked side, New Zealand, in their June 27 decider.
Group H: Spain lead on four; Uruguay and Cape Verde share second on two; Saudi Arabia prop up the table. The June 27 finale pits Uruguay against Spain and Cape Verde against Saudi Arabia — win that, and the Blue Sharks are in the last 32.

Full tables are on the groups page, and every fixture is tracking live at whatsthescore.football.