Spain 4-0 Saudi Arabia: A glamorous 1st win for Spain with Yamal's maiden goal & Oyarzabal's brace

After a disappointing first game, Spain finally unleashed their talent on attack. Record night for Yamal(1st WC goal) and Oyarzabal(2nd player with 3-goal contribution in the first 25 min) and the team(fastest 3-0 lead in 52 years).

Match Highlight:

https://www.fifa.com/en/watch/4ZigaLfUmzRMpzV7ETANXM

Match Report:

Teenage superstar Yamal scored 10 minutes into his first start on football's biggest stage and Spain kickstarted their campaign with the 4-0 demolition of Saudi Arabia on Sunday.

The 18-year-old forward slid in at the far post to touch home a low cross for the opening goal in Atlanta. He became the eighth youngest scorer in World Cup history and more importantly settled Spanish nerves after the team was held to a surprise 0-0 draw by Cape Verde in its opening game.

In a tournament that has already seen Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland and Harry Kane get off to flying starts, Yamal's strike saw him join the party.

The Barcelona winger is already considered one the world's top players and helped Spain win the European Championship in 2024 despite being just 16 years old when the tournament started. He is tipped to take over from Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the sport's biggest star but came into the World Cup with questions over his fitness after he missed the end of the season with a hamstring injury.

Yamal, who was only used as a second-half substitute against Cape Verde, was thrown in from the start against Saudi Arabia and wasted no time in making his presence felt.

He had already repeatedly sliced through the Saudi defense before turning home Mikel Oyarzabal's cross.

A full house at Atlanta Stadium was mainly filled with Spain fans who had roared in celebration just at the sight of Yamal emerging for the pre-game warm up. And the cheers were even louder as he raced away to celebrate his goal, dropping to his knees, praying and kissing the turf.

It was just the impact Spain coach Luis de la Fuente wanted from his star player, having been inundated with questions about when Yamal would be ready to start.

Those questions felt even more anxious after Spain, one of the pre-tournament favorites, was shut out by Cape Verde.

After all, Spain has failed to advance beyond the round of 16 since lifting the World Cup in 2010, winning just three games during that run.

But Yamal's opener sparked a flurry of first-half goals. Oyarzabal, who was criticized for not touching the ball at all in the first 30 minutes against Cape Verde, not only provided the assist for Yamal, but scored two more with close range strikes in the 21st and 24th.

So dominant was Spain's lead that De la Fuente had seen enough and took both his scorers off at halftime.

Inside four minutes of the second half, the lead was extended when Marc Cucurella's shot rebounded off Hassan Altambakti for an own goal.

Match Events:

10' Goal! Lamine Yamal scores with right footed shot from the center of the box. Assist from Mikel Oyarzabal.

21' Goal! Mikel Oyarzabal scores with left footed shot from the center of the box. Assist from Aymeric Laporte.

24' Goal! Mikel Oyarzabal scores with left footed shot from the center of the box. Assist from Dani Olmo.

30'  Yellow card given to Salem Al Dawsari for a foul.

HT Spain 3-0 Saudi Arabia

49' Own Goal, Spain is awarded a goal due to an own goal conceded by Hassan Al Tambakti, Saudi Arabia.

60' Yellow card given to Mohamed Kanno for a foul.

90'+5' No Goal, VAR overturns the goal scored by Ferran Torres.

FT Spain 4-0 Saudi Arabia

Line-ups

Spain XI: Laporte, Unai Simón, Cucurella, Oyarzabal, Olmo, Rodri, Álex Baena, Porro, Pedri, Yamal, Cubarsi

Subs: Grimaldo, Iglesias, Llorente, David Raya, Merino, Fabian Ruiz, Ferran Torres, Eric Garcia, Martín Zubimendi, Yeremy, Joan García, Nico Williams, Marc Pubill, Gavi, Víctor Muñoz

Saudi Arabia XI: Salem Al Dawsari, Mohammed Al Owais, Abdullah Alkhaibari, Ali Lajami, Nasser Al-Dawsari, Firas Al-Buraikan, Abdulelah Al-Amri, Hassan Tambakti, Saud Abdulhamid, Moteb Al-Harbi, Musab Al-Juwayr

Subs: Ahmed Al-Kassar, Saleh Al-Shehri, Mohammed Kanoo, Sultan Mandash, Alaa Hejji, Abdullah Al-Hamdan, Ali Majrashi, Khalid Al-Ghannam, Nawaf Boushal, Ayman Yahya, Nawaf Al-Aqidi, Ziyad Al-Johani, Hasan Kadesh, Jehad Thakri, Mohammed Abu Al-Shamat