Tim Howard’s 16-save masterclass against Belgium in 2014 is one of the most iconic individual performances in World Cup history. Almost a decade later, a 37-year-old goalkeeper from a tiny Caribbean island matched it. And he almost certainly had more fun doing it.
Eloy Room, the Curaçao national team starter and Miami FC keeper in the USL Championship, produced 15 saves in a 0-0 draw against Ecuador on Thursday. That ties Howard’s single-game record for saves in a men’s World Cup match. It also sets a new standard for the most saves in a World Cup clean sheet, and the most saves ever in a regulation-length World Cup match — no extra time needed.
Room got busy early. Ecuador threw 28 total shots his way, 15 of them on target. Expected goals (xG) models pegged Ecuador at 3.08, meaning an average keeper probably lets in at least two or three goals from those chances. Room let in zero. He punched. He dove. He sprawled. He did the whole thing in front of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, who celebrated with the team in the locker room afterward.
“I think Tim Howard might be sweating a little bit watching from his TV,” Room joked after the match, smiling when asked if he deserves a statue back home.
This game carried real weight. Curaçao’s first-ever World Cup point came just a week after a brutal 7-0 loss to Germany. The turnaround was stark. Head coach Dick Advocaat said after the match that he couldn’t be prouder of where the program started versus where it is now. “From nothing,” he said, to holding a World Cup opponent with real attacking talent.
Room went from backup to history in one week
Room didn’t even start against Germany. Advocaat rotated, and the result was a disaster. But Room got the nod against Ecuador and delivered arguably the best goalkeeping performance of this World Cup. For a guy who spent years as a backup with PSV Eindhoven and later with the Columbus Crew, it’s a career-defining moment.
It’s also a reminder that World Cup moments don’t always come from superstars. Sometimes they come from a 37-year-old playing for a nation of 150,000 people, wearing a shirt nobody expected to make headlines.
What’s next for Curaçao
The draw keeps Curaçao alive in the group stage, but the math is brutal. They still have to face Ivory Coast in what amounts to a must-win to keep any realistic hope of advancing. That feels like a long shot. But if Room can replicate even half of what he did against Ecuador, maybe Curaçao’s improbable run isn’t done yet.
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