83 min: Who is Eloy Room? Well he’s 37 years old and plays for Miami. No, not that one…

Miami FC. Of the USL Championship. The US second division.

Now he’s one save away from matching the men’s World Cup single-game record.

80 min: Another save from Room! This one off of an absolute rocket from way outside. That’s 15 saves, one away from matching Tim Howard’s single-game World Cup record.

79 min: Angulo is taken down on a charge at goal, and the crowd is livid that there was no foul call. The referee has swallowed his whistle on a few big occasions this half.

77 min: Eloy Room makes another save, his 14th. Two away from the record.

Curaçao substitutions: The excellent Tahith Chong, captain Leandro Bacuna, and Deveron Fonville exit. Kenji Gorre, Roshon Van Eijma, and Jearl Margaritha come on.

75 min: A chance! Juninho Bacuna finds a window at the top of the penalty box and rifles a left-footed shot that Galindez didn’t seem to know much about, but he nonetheless was able to block it.

74 min: Oh wow, Piero Hincapié had a free header on the six-yard box and put it over the bar. Ecuador are snakebitten.

73 min: Another Room save, this time from an effort way outside at his near post. That gives him 13 for the night. The World Cup record in a single game is 16, set by Tim Howard v Belgium in 2014, and that game had 30 minutes of extra-time.

70 min: We have a hydration break sub. Ecuador brings on Nilson Angulo in place of Pervis Estupiñan.

Reader Stephen writes in…

What are you thinking if you’re Dick Advocaat? There’s a potential first World Cup draw ever to be had for Curacao but if they drop back and try to draw breath as they clearly need to they could find themselves in hot water quickly.

I have no idea what he’s thinking, but I’d be surprised if they depart from their approach too much. I think going conservative at this point would be a mistake. The win is right there, and very possible for Curaçao, in my opinion.

Reader Tracy writes in…

Alex, is it safe to say that Eloy Room is playing a blinder, or something close to one?

Definitely. Blinder confirmed. His first handful of saves weren’t necessarily amazing but his last few have been.

68 min: Hydration break! Let’s catch our breaths. We might be on the verge of a special result here.

67 min: Tahith Chong has been excellent in this match. He’s constantly an outlet when Curaçao need to relieve pressure, which has been very often. His runs forward have generated most of his team’s scoring opportunities. It’s been really fun to watch.

66 min: And his 11th save, and his 12th! Room deflects two back-to-back efforts off a corner kick and clears his lines. Curaçao hanging on by a thread here!

65 min: Another chance for Ecuador! Valencia again, this time at the far post, but Room is right there to make his 10th save of the night.

64 min: Ecuador earn a corner … it’s flicked on for Caicedo but he can’t connect at the far post.

63 min: Kevin Rodríguez finds some space to run into, but his effort on goal goes wide and bounces off the ad boards in the back.

61 min: Enner Valencia once again snatching at a desperate chance, easily saved at the near post by Room.

60 min: Another crazy sequence! Galindez forced into three saves in the matter of a few seconds as Curaçao hits back on the counter. Leandro Bacuna, Comanencia, and Locadia all denied. Wow.

59 min: Whoa! A wild sequence there in the Curaçao penalty box. An Ecuador corner found a head, but Eloy Room came up with a big save again that deflected off his own defender’s head and eventually directed out of play.

Reader Kári writes in…

Ecuador have looked oddly bereft of ideas since Enner Valencia fluffed his big chance. La Tricolor should look at the Turkish example and worry. Due to the head-to-head rules, if Curaçao get a fluky goal, Ecuador would be staring elimination in the face. Given the talent in the side, that would border on being criminal. But then the same could be said about the Turks.

A very good point here – it’s worth remembering that there’s a ton at stake for the South American side.

57 min: Ecuador cough up possession again and just like that half the Curaçao team are surging forward. Leandro Bacuna disappoints with his decision, a shot from way outside that comes nowhere near goal.

56 min: Another yellow for Curaçao, this one for Comenencia after a high boot on a 50/50 ball.

54 min: Caicedo plays a low service off the free kick that’s flicked on, coming to nothing. Ecuador faces starting to betray some frustration…

53 min: Ah, there’s a card from the Card Master. Juninho Bacuna picks one up for a hard challenge in the middle third.

Reader Robert writes in…

“The score is still all zeroes in Kansas City and the teams have switched sides.”

Really? Surely it’s ends that have been switched.

No, I mean sides. Ecuador ordered fries and Curaçao got cheesy corn and they each got jealous so they switched.

50 min: A shot for Ecuador, but it’s from far out by Caicedo and easily saved by Ecuador.

Moments later, Gonzalo Plata fires another shot way high.

They’re certainly trying.

49 min: For a referee known as the Card Master, Ma Ning is letting a lot of chippy fouls go. Things could escalate as Ecuador pushes harder for a goal.

One substitution at half-time, as Kevin Rodríguez replaces Jordy Alcívar for Ecuador.

More half-time reading: Sid Lowe on Spain coach Luis de la Fuente calling starlet Lamine Yamal a genius “Like Dalí or Michelangelo.”

No pressure, kid!

Elsewhere in Kansas City, Jacob Steinberg reports from England’s open training session at Swope Soccer Village:

Reader Jacob writes in…

I’m watching the game on Telemundo in the US, and the Spanish commentators are showing real respect for Curacao’s tenacity. They’re calling the game with all the respect that a World Cup match deserves – even though they know Curaçao is wildly outmatched in talent.

This is great to hear and no less than Curaçao deserve. They’re clearly at a quality disadvantage but are doing well to limit Ecuador’s opportunities. All they need is one genuine chance of their own.

Reader Peter writes in…

Hi from Kansas City!

Here in the US, folks talk about KC as being between on the eastern edge of what is called the “Great Plains” and the western edge of the Midwest. Tonight, with Beccacece’s hair and Room’s “none shall pass” play between the sticks for Curaçao, I’m getting more of a Middle Earth vibe than Middle West.

And right about now is where I mildly regret having never read nor seen any of the Lord of the Rings saga.

As a KC native though I can say that I generally agree with the idea that Kansas City is the easternmost western city, while St Louis is the westernmost eastern city.

Reader Brad writes in…

Evening Alex (assuming that’s how I greet you at 1.30am),

Peter’s not wrong in his Chong-Valderrama comparison, indeed I’d thought the same. It’s not just a visual thing though, there’s a confidence and style, bordering on arrogance, when he gets his foot on the ball that evokes memories of watching Valderrama in the early 90’s.

If anything, he plays a little further up the pitch and might be more like Gullit from the same era.

I agree with everything here, but must say that Brad wrote “Chung” instead of “Chong” and I got very excited at first that I might have a chance to wax poetic about Mark Chung, another great football/soccer player to have called Arrowhead/Kansas City Stadium home. Alas…

45+4 min: Locadia earns a free kick about 40 yards out. He finds a teammate in the box who hits a nice cutback on the volley, but nobody is there to connect with it. A shame! It was a really nice service and could have been a golden chance.

45+2 min: Curaçao forces a save from Galindez, a long-range effort from Comenencia that didn’t have a whole lot of oomph behind it.

45 min: There will be four minutes of added time.

I seem to have missed this, but Leandro Bacuna earned a yellow card in the 39th minute for a tactical foul.

42 min: Eloy Room again! The Curaçao keeper makes another big save, this time off a nice effort from Gonzalo Plata.

38 min: Yellow card! The first card of the match goes to Ecuador’s Alcívar. Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but it was a loose pass in the back that was intercepted by Chong, who was taken down on his way upfield against a backtracking backline.

36 min: With Curaçao shorthanded with Bacuna off injured, every player is behind the ball right now. They do well to snuff out an Ecuador play into the box and clear it out with some desperation.

34 min: Uh oh. Juninho Bacuna, probably Curaçao’s most dangerous player so far, is down and being attended to by training staff. He’s limping off under his own power.

33 min: Curaçao with another nice interception in midfield and stream forward with confidence, this time ending with a spinning shot attempt by Juninho Bacuna that comes to nothing.

Curaçao are making this a game! I’m having a lot of fun.

30 min: Another moment of loose possession by Ecuador, pounced on by Juninho Bacuna, whose effort on goal was blocked by his own teammate Joshua Brenet.

28 min: Ecuador playing forward much more directly after the break, with Valencia uncorking a shot from outside the box, right at Room who saves easily.

27 min: The players are hydrated, and we’re back under way.

Reader Stephen writes in:

Honestly, games like this are actually a decent advert for an expanded World Cup. What’s the problem with giving teams like little Curacao a dance on the biggest stage, particularly if they’re playing like this? Cape Verde holds Spain to a draw, is that bad? It’s not like they ordinarily get many opportunities such as this. Good luck to all the minnows, I’m glad that they’re grasping the opportunity with both fists.

I completely agree. Curaçao have been a very nice add to this tournament, in my opinion. They clearly lack the quality of a lot of other sides, but they come to play and aren’t content just to sit back. That, IMO, speaks volumes for them and their place in this tournament. They’ve been pretty good so far tonight, too.

24 min: Curaçao players are routinely needing to fight through two, three, four waves of Ecuador pressure to work the ball upfield. Occasionally, they do, and on this occasion they earn a foul.

Good time to take it quickly? Hah! No. It’s hydration break time.

22 min: Moisés Caicedo is doing such a nice job dictating the tempo of this match, even if he is sometimes having to drop to almost behind his own center-backs in order to do it. Every positive move forward so far has started with him.

20 min: A nicely worked opportunity on the left touchline results in a line-breaking service to Valencia, whose effort is saved by Room.

Reader Peter writes in:

From behind, Tahith Chong’s bushy, dyed locks and blue-and-yellow kit are reminiscent of Colombia legend Carlos Valderrama in his 1994 World Cup pomp. Thanks for the great memory Curaçao!

I hadn’t noticed this before but now it’s all I can see. Valderrama of course no stranger to playing football at this stadium as a member of the Colorado Rapids, Miami Fusion (RIP), and Tampa Bay Mutiny (also RIP).

18 min: Curaçao having some real problems plying through a very aggressive Ecuador press. Finally they break through and find space, but Tahith Chong’s effort in the box is blocked.

16 min: Moisés Caicedo plays a nice ball forward for Gonzalo Plata, who steps over the ball on the edge of the box and is dispossessed.

14 min: Yeboah and Vite work a nice give-and-go along the right flank, with Vite attempting a curled shot in the box. It goes high and wide, but it’s nice to see Ecuador working possession for a chance like that.

13 min: Another chance, this time from Yeboah along the right, and under-hit effort on goal well saved by Room.

12 min: It seems like most of Ecuador’s plan for this is to try to draw Curaçao forward then beat them over the top. It nearly worked on that early Valencia chance, and it’s been tried 3 or 4 times more since then already.

9 min: Once again, Curaçao works a good chance against the run of play, with Locadia feeding Juninho Bacuna who hit a low effort that was blocked.

….actually, looks like the whole play was offside. But still, another warning shot from the minnows.

8 min: Just as I type that last update, Tahith Chong surges forward with the ball but his attempted service falls well short. There was a real opportunity there.

5 min: It’s early, but Curaçao is looking confident going forward. No clear chances yet but it’s not hard to imagine them getting one.

On replay, it’s clear Enner Valencia found space between the center backs way too easily on that last chance, and their positioning allowed him to be onside for the long ball from the back. Room saved the backline but that can’t keep happening if they hope to make history today.

2 min: A big chance, and a huge save by Eloy Room on Enner Valencia! He came out well to stop Valencia’s effort after a long ball over the top.

1 min: An early moment of nerves for Ecuador, knocking an easy pass along the backline out of bounds. Curaçao not looking afraid to press.

A moment of appreciation for Sebastián Beccacece, coach of Ecuador, and his excellent hair.

The national anthem of Curaçao is next: Himno di Kòrsou.

I’m enjoying the brass-forward arrangement they’re using for this.

First off, it’s the national anthem of Ecuador: Salve, Oh Patria (Hail, O Fatherland).

It sounds loud and boisterous in there.

The giant flags are out, the players are in the tunnel, kick-off looms!

What are you all thinking will happen here? Can Curaçao pull off a gigantic upset?

From the early looks at Kansas City Stadium, this looks like it’ll be a heavily pro-Ecuador crowd.

Not entirely surprising, as Curaçao has about the population of Macon, Georgia and Ecuador has, uh, way more than that.

Two changes in the Curaçao lineup: Joshua Brenet replaces Riechedly Bazoer at center back. Juriën Gaari also comes in at center back, with forward Sontje Hansen making way.

Two changes as well for Ecuador: Pervis Estupiñan replaces Joe Ordoñéz in defense, while Alan Minda makes way for Jordy Alcívar in midfield.

Reader Eric writes in:

Was the point to annoy all of Texas with the BBQ dig?

What dig?! Texas BBQ is great. All BBQ is great. It’s just that Kansas City’s is better, in the opinion of this not-at-all biased native Kansas Citian.

The referee tonight is Ma Ning from China, where he has amassed quite a large fanbase (for a referee) owing to the country’s failure to qualify for any World Cup since 2002. He’s a big enough deal to have attracted sponsorships from the likes of Lenovo and Hisense, according to the BBC.

Nicknamed the “card master” owing to his strict approach, this will be Ma Ning’s World Cup debut – the first game officiated by a Chinese referee since the 2002 edition.

Elsewhere in Group E…

Germany left it late but escaped with an important win against Côte d’Ivoire, thanks to a late goal from Deniz Undav.

Read Leander Schaerlaeckens’ match report: