Yamal Shines as Spain Dominates Saudi Arabia 4-0

Spain did not just respond in Atlanta. They roared back into this World Cup.

Four days after a goalless, joyless stalemate with Cape Verde had reopened old doubts about La Roja’s cutting edge, Luis de la Fuente’s side tore into Saudi Arabia with a 4-0 win that felt like a statement as much as a scoreline. The passes snapped, the presses bit, the goals flowed. The tension that had clung to their opener evaporated in 25 ruthless minutes.

At the heart of it all, a teenager who watched the last World Cup from a classroom.

A prodigy takes charge

Restored to the starting XI after his electric cameo in the first game, Lamine Yamal did not ease his way into this one. Within seconds he was whipping in a cross from the right. Within 11 minutes, he had his first World Cup goal, on his first World Cup start.

It was not the kind of strike that will decorate a career highlights reel: a stabbed finish at the back post from Mikel Oyarzabal’s low, fizzing cross, squeezed in from a tight angle. But the manner of it mattered. This was a poacher’s goal, the sort of instinctive, penalty-box touch that hints at a player ready to turn outrageous talent into hard numbers.

By the time Yamal’s shot hit the net, Spain had already completed 39 passes in the move. No side at this tournament had pieced together such a long sequence before scoring. The old Spain, with their hypnotic circulation of the ball, suddenly had a new face fronting the act.

Yamal then went through his repertoire. Dribbles, crosses, shots. He drove at full-backs, dragged defenders out of shape, and set a ferocious tempo that his team-mates followed. De la Fuente would later say the winger is now in “perfect condition” to take on full matches. On this evidence, he is in perfect condition to take on a World Cup.

Oyarzabal’s double breaks Saudi resistance

If Yamal lit the spark, Oyarzabal provided the explosion that killed the contest before the first drinks break.

On 21 minutes, Spain’s second arrived in far scruffier fashion. A scramble at the back post, Oyarzabal reacting quickest to poke home from close range. Saudi Arabia, who had held their shape reasonably well to that point, suddenly looked rattled.

Two minutes later, they were sunk. Again the forward found space in the box, again he made it count, this time with a more assured finish, turning the ball past Mohammed Al Owais from close range. Three goals inside 25 minutes. No team had started a game this fast on the World Cup stage since Germany in 2014.

Oyarzabal could have walked away with the match ball before half-time. When Al Owais gifted him possession with a poor back pass, the hat-trick seemed inevitable. His first-time effort beat the goalkeeper but not the frame of the goal, pinging off the top of the crossbar and away.

It was a rare moment of mercy.

De la Fuente rotates, Spain ease off – but keep control

With Spain 3-0 up and cruising, De la Fuente made the kind of decision that separates a performance from a campaign. At half-time, he withdrew both Yamal and Oyarzabal, banking their brilliance and protecting their legs with tougher assignments to come. The coach turned 65 on Sunday; this was the gift he wanted most: a big lead and the chance to manage minutes.

Spain’s intensity dipped after the interval, as it was always likely to. The passing remained sharp, the control almost total, but the urgency in the final third eased. Saudi Arabia rarely escaped their half, yet the fourth goal came from misfortune rather than invention.

From a flicked-on corner, Marc Cucurella’s effort drew a sharp save from Al Owais. The danger should have been over. Instead, the rebound cannoned off Hassan Al Tambakti and spun into his own net. Another own goal in a tournament already littered with them, and another grim statistic for defenders in a World Cup where mistakes keep being punished in the cruelest way.

Spain thought they had a fifth in added time when Ferran Torres turned in a Fabian Ruiz cross. The celebrations stalled, then stopped. After a lengthy VAR check, the offside flag stood, and the scoreline stayed at four.

No one in red seemed especially bothered.

From Cape Verde angst to World Cup intent

The shift from Monday’s draw to this demolition was not accidental. De la Fuente had demanded “more verticality and more intensity” after the Cape Verde game. His players delivered both from the first whistle, swarming Saudi Arabia, pinning them in their own box, and shooting on sight.

The numbers told one story. The body language told another. A side that had looked inhibited and ponderous in their opener suddenly played with freedom and edge. The early goal helped, but the mindset had changed. Drawing a game they knew they should win “stings,” as Yamal put it, and that sting sharpened their approach.

There is depth and quality everywhere in this Spain squad, from the back line through a midfield stacked with technicians to a forward line that now looks far less toothless than critics feared. On this night, though, it was the superstar in the No 19 shirt who set the tone, dragged the standard up, and showed what this team can be when their best player plays like it.

The reward is immediate and tangible. Spain go top of Group H ahead of Uruguay’s late kick-off against Cape Verde, while Saudi Arabia sink to the bottom. The wider prize lies a little further down the road.

Uruguay await next. A different kind of test, a different kind of tension. Spain have finally arrived at this World Cup. The question now is how long they plan on staying.