Eloy Room's 15-save masterclass earns Curacao their first ever World Cup point

Eloy Room made 15 saves to earn Curacao a 0-0 draw against Ecuador in Kansas City on Wednesday, giving the Caribbean nation their first ever point at a World Cup and setting a new record for stops in a 90-minute match at the tournament since records began in 1966.

Only the United States’ Tim Howard has made more saves in a single World Cup game — his 16 came in an extra-time defeat to Belgium in 2014. Room’s performance was all the more remarkable given the scale of the task: Ecuador registered 27 shots and an expected goals figure of 3.05, yet the veteran keeper was equal to everything, producing standout stops from Enner Valencia at close range and long-range efforts from Moises Caicedo and John Yeboah.

“For me as a goalkeeper, this is almost a perfect game,” Room said after the final whistle. “I think I need a statue in Curacao now.”

The result carries particular weight for a nation of just 156,000 people — the smallest country ever to compete at a World Cup. It came just days after Curacao suffered a 7-1 opening defeat to Germany in Group E, a result their manager Dick Advocaat was philosophical about in hindsight. “Maybe Germany came too early,” he said. “That day they were simply out of our league, but today the team was standing as it should have been standing. They were fighting like lions.”

Room, born in the Netherlands near the German border, spent most of his club career as a back-up goalkeeper in Dutch football, with spells at Vitesse and later Cercle Brugge in Belgium before joining Miami FC in the USL Championship as a free agent in January 2026. His international journey began in 2015 after former Netherlands striker Patrick Kluivert, then in charge of Curacao, persuaded him to represent the island through his father’s eligibility.

He has been central to Curacao’s rise ever since, starring in a 2019 Gold Cup victory over Honduras — the island’s first at that tournament — and keeping a clean sheet in the 0-0 draw with Jamaica in November 2025 that sealed their World Cup qualification for the first time.

The historic display in Kansas City was watched by the Netherlands’ King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima, who had earlier attended the Netherlands’ victory over Sweden in Houston before travelling to witness Curacao’s finest hour. Room’s performance also brought a surge of global attention: the goalkeeper gained more than 600,000 new Instagram followers in the hours after the final whistle.