2026 World Cup: Eloy Rum saves record as Curacao makes history

The result looked inevitable when Ecuador forward Enner Valencia headed over the Curacao goal within the opening three minutes.

10 yards out and only to be beaten by the keeper it looked certain to score. Curacao gives him a mountain to climb – and as he did in the Germany lost 7-1 Their World Cup opener could well set the tone for what’s to come.

But goalkeeper Eloy Rum guessed where Valencia’s ball was headed and got low to his left and tapped the ball around the post. It was an impossible, unbelievable rescue.

And the voice is right.

At full-time, BBC Sport pundit and former Arsenal defender Martin Keown was joking that a calculator might be needed to include the number of saves his team had made.

However, as World Cup debutants Curacao celebrated their first point of the tournament, it was Ecuador who were left counting the cost of missed chances.

The 37-year-old Miami FC keeper made an impressive, record-equaling performance, making 15 saves to keep his country in the lead. In the end, it was a goalless draw. Long live in the memory of the island nation.

No goalkeeper has made more stops in 90 minutes of World Cup action since records began in 1966, Opta said.

Only Tim Howard has done that much in one game, but unlike the class, he failed to score twice in the 2014 USA vs. Belgium game.

After a 0-0 draw, he appeared on BBC One’s “Take an Arrow” episode.

“It’s awesome. The number of saves, you had to get out a calculator at the end of the game to count them.

“It just became a shopping list of savings. His response was first class. He seemed intent on keeping a clean sheet all night.”

It was a show that propelled Class Country to their biggest hit yet.