Spain Enjoys Itself in Atlanta (4–0)

Spain and the World Cup met again just six days later. The setting was the same—the state-of-the-art Atlanta Stadium—the kick-off time was identical, and the opponent once again was Saudi Arabia. It was one of those days when top teams are expected to deliver—and deliver they did. The players coached by Luis de la Fuente stepped onto the pitch fully aware that the path to glory allows no hesitation, with the clear objective of taking control of an evenly balanced Group H after the opening round.

From the very first moment, Spain dominated possession. In the 10th minute, the national team broke the deadlock. A driven cross from the left by Mikel Oyarzabal found Lamine Yamal, who slid in to open the scoring for Spain. The Atlanta crowd erupted in celebration as a player widely regarded as a generational talent made his mark once again. With this goal, Yamal entered the top ten youngest scorers in World Cup history, aged 18 years and 343 days.

He also became the second-youngest player in history—behind Pelé—to score in both a World Cup and a continental competition (Euro 2024).

The early goal gave Spain momentum, as they pushed to extend their lead. Dani Olmo, Pedro Porro, Álex Baena, and Álex Baena tested the Saudi defence, but it was the ever-reliable Mikel Oyarzabal who struck next. In just three minutes, the forward from Eibar scored twice, assisted by Aymeric Laporte and Dani Olmo, moving him up to seventh place among Spain’s all-time top scorers with 27 goals—overtaking Emilio Butragueño and drawing level with Fernando Morientes.

Just before half-time, Oyarzabal came close to completing a hat-trick with a sublime outside-of-the-foot effort that beat the goalkeeper but struck the crossbar. The nearly 70,000 spectators inside Atlanta Stadium enjoyed Spain’s attacking display, as the team had already captured the local crowd’s admiration. With a three-goal lead, referee Raphael Clausbrought the first half to a close.

The second half continued in the same dominant fashion. In the 49th minute, Marc Cucurella struck a volley from a corner delivered by Álex Baena; after a save from the goalkeeper, the ball deflected off Abdulelah Al-Amri and into the net.

On his 65th birthday, Luis de la Fuente celebrated yet another victory—his 32nd in 44 matches as national coach. He introduced fresh legs through substitutions, with Ferran Torres, Yeremy Pino, and Nico Williams adding pace and width, while Mikel Merino and Fabián Ruiz provided control in midfield.

Late on, Ferran Torres scored what would have been Spain’s fifth, but the goal was ruled out by VAR for offside after a pass from Pedro Porro.

An emphatic and uncontested victory that places Spain at the top of Group H, pending the result between Uruguay and Cape Verde in Miami. Spain will now look to secure qualification for the Round of 16 as group winners in their next match in Guadalajara, Mexico, against the South American side.