'A staggering 15 saves' — The 37-year-old goalkeeper who led Curaçao to its historic first point, setting a new all-time World Cup record

*This content was translated by AI.

Curaçao, with the smallest population among all nations that have ever qualified for the World Cup finals at just 150,000, has secured its historic first point at the FIFA World Cup.

Led by Dutch manager Dick Advocaat (79), who previously coached the South Korea national football team, Curaçao drew 0-0 with Ecuador in the 2026 FIFA North, Central America and Caribbean World Cup Group E second-round match held at the Kansas City Stadium in the United States on the 21st (Korean time).

Making its first-ever appearance in the World Cup finals, Curaçao had previously scored its first-ever World Cup goal in a match against Germany, which it lost 1-7. In this match against Ecuador, the team added another historic milestone by securing its first-ever World Cup point (one point).

With FIFA rankings placing Curaçao at 82nd and Ecuador at 23rd, and considering Ecuador was the tournament's top dark horse after finishing second overall in the North, Central America and Caribbean World Cup South American qualifiers, Curaçao's first point was nothing short of a major upset.

At the center of this achievement was 1989-born veteran goalkeeper Eloï Room (Miami FC), who held off Ecuador's relentless onslaught to keep the score at zero.

On this day, Ecuador attempted eight shots in the first half and 19 in the second half, with a total of 15 shots on target. However, not a single one of these shots resulted in a goal thanks to goalkeeper Room's performance.

According to football statistics platform FotMob, Ecuador's expected goals that day reached 3.05, and their expected goals from shots on target were 2.48, yet goalkeeper Room allowed not a single goal.

Room's 15 saves recorded on this day alone represent the second-highest total in World Cup history when looking at raw numbers. The record is held by American goalkeeper Tim Howard, who made 16 saves during the 2014 FIFA World Cup round of 16 match against Belgium.

However, Howard's saves included extra time, making Room's 15 saves the all-time record for a World Cup match played within regular time only. Football statistics platform Opta highlighted that "Room's 15 saves against Ecuador is the highest in FIFA World Cup history for a match without extra time."

Meanwhile, with the addition of one point, Curaçao remains in fourth place in Group E, behind Germany (6 points), Ivory Coast (3 points), and Ecuador (1 point). The slim possibility of advancing to the round of 32 remains open. The final match is against Ivory Coast on the 25th.

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*This content was translated by AI.