2026 FIFA World Cup Countdown: Tim Krul’s Shootout Heroics

41 Days to Go - Tim Krul’s Shootout Heroics

In the quarter-finals of the World Cup of 2014, staged in Brazil, the Arena Fonte Nova of Salvador would play host to one of the ballsiest tactical gambles in the history of the world's premier sporting event.

Costa Rica, the darling underdogs of the tournament who had already rocked the world by topping the "Group of Death" and making it into the final eight, were facing off against a Netherlands side dripping with talent such as Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie, and had managed to hold them all the to the end of a two-hour extra-time deadlock with no goals to be found.

Penalties loomed as the 120-minute mark elapsed, but Dutch manager Louis van Gaal would make a sly move that nobody expected, and yet everyone will remember.

At Football Park, we are counting down the days until the 2026 FIFA World Cup gets underway in the United States, Mexico and Canada this summer. To mark the occasion, we are flashing back to an iconic World Cup moment every day until it gets underway. Today, we're reminiscing over Tim Krul's penalty heroics against Costa Rica in 2014.

A Ballsy Substitution

Jasper Cillessen, the Ajax goalkeeper who had started every game, was hauled off in the 120th minute. On came Newcastle’s Tim Krul - a 26-year-old backup who had spent the entire match on the bench. Onlookers couldn't quite make sense of it - Cillessen was un-harmed and the tension in the stadium was palpable. Was throwing in a goalkeeper not acclimated to the pressure of the game at the tensest possible moment a wise idea? Well, van Gaal saw something nobody else did - he'd spotted an intimidating presence and an understated knack for saving spot-kicks. It was a pre-planned gamble that nobody had prepared for at a World Cup, of all places.

Krul didn't get a chance to touch the ball before the shoot-out began. He barely had time to take a breath and look around. But now the time had arrived for the one thing he had been brought on to do - win the Netherlands a penalty shootout. After the fact, he told his team-mates that he loved the lottery of a penalty shootout because it gave goalies a chance to have their moment in the sun. Van Gaal had handed him a huge chance to grasp his.

Krul put on a masterclass in psychological warfare, calmly announcing to every Costa Rican taker that he knew where they were going. Confident, of course, but confidence that was perfectly placed - he guessed the right direction for his dive on every single Costa Rican kick.

Bryan Ruiz stepped up with Costa Rica's second penalty, following Celso Borges who had netted his penalty with aplomb and after Robin van Persie had made no mistake to equalise, but Krul would set the precedent for his display with a low dive to his left that saw him palm the ball away calmly.

Robben, Wesley Sneijder and Dirk Kuyt would follow up and net their penalties, with Krul guessing correctly but not quite keeping out further efforts from Geancarlo Gonzalez and Christian Bolanos. But, when Michael Umana stepped up at the end, needing to score to keep Costa Rica in the World Cup, Krul would pop up with his second superb save of the shootout to send the underdogs packing and The Oranje into the semi-finals.

Costa Rica had conceded just two goals over the entire tournament and won the hearts of the world, but were left devastated by van Gaal's tactical epiphany. It was a World Cup run that became the making of Keylor Navas, who went on to Champions League and European success with the likes of Real Madrid and PSG, but it was the subbed-on Dutch backup who won the day with an immortal display.

An Immortal Display

Krul's display was met to a euphoric reaction back home, with the streets of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Eindhoven awash with orange shirts singing the then-Newcastle man's praises. An afterthought going into the tournament, Tim Krul had become a national treasure overnight whilst van Gaal credited the shock tactical change to a pre-planned move based on penalty data and incisive research. Afterwards, Krul humbly credited his work on the Costa Rican mentality: “I just told them I knew where they were going,” he said afterwards. “It worked because I saved two penalties.”

It was one of the more memorable moments of Brazil 2014 - a goalkeeper brought on purely for a shoot-out and stepping up to the plate right when it mattered to win the day for the Dutch. It was the first time that such a late change between the posts had paid off so spectacularly well at a World Cup, and it laid foundations for managers to think deeper into their methods ahead of shootouts. Like Kepa for Chelsea a few years ago (to two varying levels of success).

Looking Ahead to 2026

12 years later, with the 2026 iteration of the World Cup approaching North America soil, Krul's heroics in goal still remain in place as a masterclass in preparation, research and bona-fide belief. It may have spelled the end of Costa Rica's fairytale run, but their run coincided with van Gaal's tactical wizardry to remind fans worldwide why the World Cup provides the greatest theatre on earth.

This year, there may be new heroes waiting to emerge all over again and Krul's story in 2014 serves as the perfect reminder that the biggest moments may belong to the most unlikely of names.