Spain made their mark at the 2022 World Cup with a 7-0 thrashing of Costa Rica with a performance that sent a message to supporters to win the tournament.
Group E was dubbed the “Group of Death” ahead of the tournament, but Spain has no fear going into their clash with Germany after comfortably dispatching Costa Rica and securing their biggest win of the World Cup.
Dani Olmo scored his 100th World Cup goal after 11 minutes to give La Rosa a point before Marco Asensio doubled their lead 10 minutes later.
Ferran Torres scored either side of half-time, once from the penalty spot and once from open play, before Gavi picked up the lead and became Spain’s youngest-ever World Cup goalscorer in the process.
Gavi was one of two teenagers selected by Spain coach Luis Enrique, and both he and Pedri were standout performers in a team that showed very few weaknesses after Carlos Soler and Alvaro Morata completed the goals.
Costa Rica will be hoping to maintain their strong recent defensive record after going into the match with eight clean sheets in their previous 13 international matches.
But after a disastrous opener, Los Ticos coach Luis Fernando Suarez may need a tactical rethink ahead of Costa Rica’s clash with Japan on Sunday.
Spain vs Costa Rica Live Score
| Team | 1H | 2H | Final |
| SPA | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| CRC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Goals:
SPA – Dani Olmo – 11 Min
SPA – Marco Asensio – 21 Min
SPA – Ferran Torres – 31 Min
SPA – Ferran Torres – 54 Min
SPA – Gavi – 74 Min
SPA – Carlos Soler – 90 Min
SPA – Alvaro Morata – 90 + 3 Min
Confirmed lineups
Spain (4-3-3, right to left):
23. Simon (GK) — 2. Azpilicueta, 16. Rhodri, 24. Laporte, 18. Alba — 9. Heifer, 5. Busquets, 26. Pedri — 11. F. Torres, 10. Asensio, 21. Olmo.
Costa Rica (5-4-1, right to left):
1. Navas (GK) – 16. Martinez, 15. Calvo, 6. Duarte, 4. Fuller, 8. Oviedo — 12. Campbell, 5. Borges, 17 Tejeda, 9. Bennett – 7. Contreras.
Spain vs Costa Rica Live Updates, 2022 World Cup Highlights
Full time: Spain 7-0 Costa Rica
90 + 3 minutes: GOAL! Spain 7-0 Costa Rica (Morata)
90+1 minute: Eight minutes of added time.
90th minute: GOAL! Spain 6-0 Costa Rica (Soler)
This is now Spain’s biggest-ever win at a World Cup!
82nd minute: Costa Rica substitute Ronald Matarrita replaces Brian Oviedo.
74th minute: Goal! Spain 5-0 Costa Rica (Gavi)
Gavi marked his special day with an adorable goal!
The given video is available in UK
What. A. Goal. 🔥
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) November 23, 2022
Gavi becomes Spain's youngest goalscorer at a World Cup finals with this absolute stunner!! 🇪🇸🚀#ITVFootball | #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/SiscLFR16O
72nd minute: Costa Rica substitution The match is petering out amid the substitutions. Brandon Aguilera, 19, replaces Celso Borges, 34.
69th minute: Spain substitutes Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams (no relation) for Marco Asensio.
64th minute: Spain substitution Barcelona’s teenage left-back Alejandro Balde comes on for his debut in place of Jordi Alba. Koke replaces Sergio Busquets.
62nd minute: Costa Rica substitution Bryan Ruiz, 37, and Alvaro Zamora replace Anthony Contreras and Jewison Bennette.
54th minute: Goal! Spain 4-0 Costa Rica (Torres)
Ferran Torres helps himself to seconds at a Costa Rica buffet.
The given video is available in UK
The show goes on!! 🎭@FerranTorres20 bags his second goal of the afternoon with this expert turn and finish! 🔥#ITVFootball | #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/b6zeFmtevq
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) November 23, 2022
53rd minute: Asensio plays in the overlapping Dani Olmo, who hammers in a low cross that is well cleared by one of Costa Rica’s 47 defenders in the six-yard box.
48th minute: Leave here from Spain, Marco Asensio drives a rising shot over the bar from outside the box. Luis Enrique wants to extend La Rosa’s lead rather than sit on it, it seems.
46th minute: Costa Rica make a substitution to bolster their defense as the second half gets underway, with Kendall Weston replacing Carlos Martinez for Los Ticos.
HALF-TIME: Spain 3-0 Costa Rica
An end to the first half that was a delight for both. Spain took the ball and passed the ball, Pedri and Gavi (combined 37 years) were particularly impressive.
Dani Olmo, Marco Asensio, and Ferran Torres scored but all 10 outfield players helped Costa Rica sleep. Spain completed over 500 passes; Costa Rica scored 73 runs.
45th minutes: Extra five minutes are added.
38th minute: Campbell’s long, driven pass finds Oviedo on the left side of the area. His lobbed cross was headed by Rodri, and then Spain got out of trouble in style. For many of these, life is just one big long rondo.
35th minutes: Martinez made a critical tackle on Olmo near the byline, although the flag later went up.
32nd minute: Spain’s biggest win at the World Cup was a futile 6-1 win over Bulgaria in 1998.
31st minute: Goal! Spain 3-0 Costa Rica (Torres 31 pen)
Ferran Torres sat Navas down and slotted a Jorginho-style penalty into the net. Spain is very good so far.
The given video is available in UK
3⃣0⃣ minutes!
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) November 23, 2022
3⃣ goals!
Ferran Torres gets his name on the scoresheet from the penalty spot! 🇪🇸
What did you make of the decision…? 🤔#ITVFootball | #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/EIjjlBDDDm
29 minutes: The off-balance Duarte kicks desperately through Alba’s heel in an attempt to get the ball. A soft penalty, but a penalty nonetheless.
21st minute: GOAL! Spain 2-0 Costa Rica (Asensio 21). And that’s two.
The given video is available in UK
He’s been given the responsibility as striker by Luis Enrique… and it’s paid off! 🇪🇸
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) November 23, 2022
What a goal, @marcoasensio10!! 🔥#ITVFootball | #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/ksMPG65awu
16th minute: Teenage Bennett charges down the left and wins a free kick for Costa Rica. Campbell takes it, and Spain catches Calvo offside. It actually looked tight, but the assistant referee was sure enough to keep the flag.
11th minute: GOOOOAAAALLLL DANI OLMO! Spain made the breakthrough after a period of sustained pressure, with Dani Olmo latching on to Gavi’s chipped pass and turning on the edge of the six-yard box before turning the ball into the net from Keylor Navas’ pass. Spain has taken a 1-0 lead.
The given video is available in US
WHAT A GOAL DANI OLMO 😳🔥
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) November 23, 2022
Spain takes the lead! pic.twitter.com/T0RGuVFh7n
10th minute: Costa Rica is struggling to get out of their third, never mind their half.
9th minute: Chance! Pedri once again squared the ball to Spain’s playmaker, Marco Asensio, on the edge of the box but the Real Madrid player cut his shot wide to the relief of Costa Rica goalkeeper Keylor Navas.
5th minute: Pedri plays a wonderfully weighted pass into the far end of the Costa Rica penalty area where Dani Olmo connects, but the Leipzig winger fires it wide of the target.
2nd minute: We’re underway and Spain, in all red, is knocking the ball around with confidence in the early exchanges. La Rosa will hope to dominate throughout their World Cup opener.
5 minutes from kickoff: The players are off the field and the anthem is playing around the stadium at Al Thumama. The Costa Rican players are in fine voice – lots of closed eyes and passionate, if slightly tuneless singing. You’ll love hearing it.
Spain vs Costa Rica lineup, team news
Spain will be without reliable right-back Jose Gaya who has injured his foot and will therefore miss the World Cup. Mikel Oyarzabal is also absent from Qatar after suffering an ACL tear in March.
Spain (4-3-3, right to left):
23. Simon (GK) — 2. Azpilicueta, 16. Rhodri, 24. Laporte, 18. Alba — 9. Heifer, 5. Busquets, 26. Pedri — 11. F. Torres, 10. Asensio, 21. Olmo.
Keylor Navas remains under an injury cloud for Costa Rica after picking up a back injury earlier this month, but reports suggest he will start against Spain.
Costa Rica (5-4-1, right to left):
1. Navas (GK) – 16. Martinez, 15. Calvo, 6. Duarte, 4. Fuller, 8. Oviedo — 12. Campbell, 5. Borges, 17 Tejeda, 9. Bennett – 7. Contreras.
Spain vs Costa Rica Live Stream, TV Channel
Here’s how you can see all the action in the major global regions.
| Country | Date | Time | TV Channel | Streaming |
| USA | Wed, Nov. 23 | 11:00 ET | Fox, Telemundo | fuboTV, Fox Sports site/app, Telemundo Deportes site/app, Peacock |
| Canada | Wed, Nov. 23 | 11:00 EST | TSN 1/3/4, RDS (French) | TSN site/app, RDS app |
| UK | Wed, Nov. 23 | 16:00 GMT | ITV 1, STV (Scotland) | ITV Hub / ITVX, STV Player (Scotland) |
| Australia | Thu, Nov. 24 | 03:00 AEDT | SBS | SBS On Demand |
| India | Wed, Nov. 23 | 21:30 IST | Sports18 | Voot, JioTV |
| Hong Kong | Thu, Nov. 24 | 00:00 HKT | Now TV (Ch. 616, 618) | Now TV |
| Malaysia | Thu, Nov. 24 | 00:00 MYT | Astro, Unifi, TV2, TV Okey, Sukan RTM | Astro GO, RTMKlik |
| Singapore | Thu, Nov. 24 | 00:00 SGT | StarHub (Ch. 251/252), Singtel TV | Singtel TV GO, CAST, StarHub TV+, MeWatch |
| New Zealand | Thu, Nov. 24 | 05:00 NZDT | Prime TV, Sky Sport 7 beIN Sports | Sky Go, Sky Sport NOW |
Spain vs Costa Rica
Spain vs Costa Rica Live: World Cup Scores, Highlights, 2022 Group E Match Results
Event Type: SportsEvent
Event Attendance Mode: Online + Offline
Event Status: EventScheduled
Performer: Person
Start Date: 2022-11-23 21:45
Availability: InStock
Availability Starts: 2022-11-23T21:45:00