Costa Rica suffered a 7-0 defeat against Spain in their Group E opener at the Al Thumama Stadium, their worst-ever World Cup loss.
After becoming the last team to qualify for the World Cup finals in June, they will look set to respond with a better performance against Japan.
Dani Olmo gave Spain a deserved lead with a delicate chip over Navas before Asensio made it two with a clean strike through the fingertips of Kaylor Navas from a whipped Jordi Alba cross.
Spain’s ruthlessness saw them again worry the Central American side which lead to veteran Oscar Duarte giving away a penalty, which Ferran Torres calmly dispatched to make it three, the fastest 3-0 scoreline since Germany’s 7-1 v Brazil in 2014
La Roja dominated the second half. Torres became the third player in Spain’s World Cup history to score twice after being allowed to turn and fire past a hapless Navas from close range. Spain made it five, and Gavi capped off his outstanding display with a beautiful first-time strike from a Morata cross.
Carlos Soler made it six pouncing from a Navas save before Morata made it seven with a cool finish into the bottom-left corner.
