Young Spain squad rolls; Kane trains through injury

Not since Pelé in 1958 had someone as young as Gavi scored a goal at the World Cup.

The 18-year-old midfielder led the way Wednesday as Spain pulled off the biggest World Cup victory in its history, routing Costa Rica 7-0 in Doha, Qatar.

“I could never have imagined it,” said Gavi, who was named the game’s most valuable player. “I know I’m the youngest in the team and I respect everyone, but on the field it’s different and I bring out my best.”

Pelé scored two goals in the 1958 final, when Brazil won its first World Cup by beating Sweden 5-2.

Gavi score just one goal Wednesday, but his teammates added plenty of others.

Spain’s young squad avoided any chance of an upset in the Group E match with Dani Olmo, Marco Asensio and Ferran Torres scoring a goal each in the first half. Torres, Gavi, Carlos Soler and Álvaro Morata added to the lead in the second half.

With Gavi and 19-year-old Pedri starting, Spain also became the first European nation with two teenagers in the starting lineup of a World Cup match in 60 years.

Costa Rica looked overwhelmed throughout the game in its third straight World Cup campaign, failing to even get a single attempt on goal. The team came to Qatar hoping to repeat its surprise run to the quarterfinals in 2014 in Brazil, and avoid a repeat of its winless showing four years ago in Russia.

Spain, which didn’t get past the round of 16 in Russia, is trying to break through with a major title after making it to the final of the Nations League and the semifinals of last year’s European Championship. Spain’s last major triumph came at Euro 2012, two years after it won its lone World Cup title. Belgium plays spoiler: Thibaut Courtois saved an early penalty and Michy Batshuayi scored the only goal to give Belgium a 1-0 win over Canada in Al Rayyan, spoiling the North American team’s return to the tournament after 36 years.

The Canadians have yet to collect a point or even score a goal in four World Cup matches.

Still, they outplayed second-ranked Belgium at times in the Group F match, with Alphonso Davies — the star of Canada’s team — squandering the best chance when his penalty was blocked by Courtois.

With Eden Hazard ineffective and Kevin De Bruyne’s passing unusually awry, Belgium often relied on the long ball from the back and that tactic led to the 44th-minute goal. Center back Toby Alderweireld split the defense with his pass and Batshuayi ran through to guide a left-footed finish into the far corner.

Batshuayi was only playing because star striker Romelu Lukaku was injured and could potentially miss the entire group stage.

Canada had 21 shots compared to the nine of Belgium.

Another surprisingly strong performance by an Arab country stifled the threat of Luka Modric and held 2018 finalist Croatia to a 0-0 draw in Al Khor.

Morocco’s resilient performance in the Group F match came 24 hours after Saudi

Morocco holds Croatia to draw:

Arabia sparked the first World Cup in the Middle East into life by beating Lionel Messi’s Argentina in one of the biggest upsets in the tournament’s history.

The 37-year-old Modric is playing in his fourth and likely final World Cup.

England thinks Kane ‘fine’: England captain Harry Kane trained Wednesday and could be recovered from his ankle injury to play against the United States in the World Cup.

Kane was injured Monday in England’s 6-2 win over Iran.

“I think he’s good,” said England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. “He will probably be a little bit sore, but I think he’s fine. He’s out on the grass with us today and that’s good. He’s our captain and he’s fine.”

His recovery will be a relief to coach Gareth Southgate and England fans ahead of Friday’s Group B match against the U.S.

Team doctors were concerned about the extent of the damage sustained by Kane and ordered scans on his right ankle.

Kane won the Golden Boot at the 2018 World Cup as the leading goal scorer.