Spain 7-0 Costa Rica: 2010 World Cup champions go wild with six different goalscorers

Spain kicked off their World Cup campaign perfectly by beating Costa Rica 7-0 at Al Thumama Stadium.

The competition ended in 31 minutes as Dani Olmo, Marco Asensio and Ferran Torres from the penalty spot rewarded one-touch passes and moves Costa Rica couldn't live with.< /p>

Torres clinched second before Gavi - who became Spain's youngest goalscorer in June - and substitutes Carlos Soler and Alvaro Morato completed the rout.

Spain's win eclipsed their previous biggest World Cup victory, a 6-1 loss to Bulgaria in France 24 years ago.

La Roja have struggled on the World Cup stage since winning the trophy in 2010; they exited in the group stage in 2014 and were knocked out in the round of 16 four years later.

But the nature of this victory will raise hopes that Spain can go further in the competition and fight for the main prize again.

Costa Rica was the last team to qualify for the World Cup by defeating New Zealand in an intercontinental play-off in June.

But the Central Americans were overwhelmed and failed to score.

Group E was opened wide earlier in the day by Japan's shock 2-1 victory over Germany.

But Spain were determined not to fall victim to a similar upset and Olmo and Asensio had missed clear chances before the deadlock was broken after 11 minutes.

Pedri had shaped the previous two opportunities, but this time Gavi, Barcelona's other teenager in a cultured Spanish midfield, provided the crucial assist.

Olmo played a clever one-two with Gavi and, capitalizing on a slight deflection from Francisco Calvo, easily beat Keylor Navas with a wonderful dinked finish.

The lead was doubled after 21 minutes as Costa Rica easily separated again.

Sergio Busquets found Jordi Alba in space and his cross was swept away by Asensio from 14 yards out, although Navas could have done better with a shot he put both hands on.

Costa Rica conceded again when Oscar Duarte grabbed Alba on the heel and Torres comfortably saved the penalty.

At that time, Spain had 87% possession and full control.

Asensio might have scored a hat-trick either side of the interval, but Torres added a fourth after 54 minutes, taking advantage of a confusion in the Costa Rican defense to pivot and score from close range.

With the result decided and both teams making several substitutions, the competition lost its intensity and felt more like an exhibition than a World Cup game.

But Spain scored a sixth after 75 minutes as Alejandro Balde's flurry ended with a Morata cross for Gavi man of the match to convert a brilliant volley with the outside of his foot .

There was even more agony for Costa Rica in stoppage time as Navas failed to manage Nico Williams' cross and Soler slipped home into an unguarded net.

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Olmo then set up Morata two minutes later and his left-footed finish put the Spaniards in seventh heaven ahead of meeting Germany on Sunday.

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