WILLEMSTAD (DA) — Eloy Room finished the FIFA World Cup group stage as the tournament’s leading goalkeeper in saves, giving Curaçao one of the standout individual performances of its first World Cup appearance.
Football statistics platform Squawka listed Room with 20 saves, the highest total among all goalkeepers during the group stage.
Room’s biggest performance came against Ecuador, when he made 15 saves and helped Curaçao keep a clean sheet. Squawka reported that Room became the first goalkeeper in World Cup history to make 15 saves and record a shutout in a single match at the tournament.
The numbers put Room ahead of Saudi Arabia goalkeeper Mohammed Al Owais, who had 16 saves, and Iran’s Alireza Beiranvand, who had 15.
Paraguay’s Orlando Gill followed with 13 saves, while Qatar’s Mahmoud Abunada had 12. Five goalkeepers finished on 11 saves: Haiti’s Johny Placide, New Zealand’s Max Crocombe, Switzerland’s Gregor Kobel, the Netherlands’ Bart Verbruggen and Australia’s Patrick Beach.
For Curaçao, Room’s total was one of the clearest signs of the team’s defensive workload in the group stage. It also gave the Blue Wave a major individual mark at the tournament, with Room standing alone at the top of the goalkeeper save chart.