ATLANTA: Lamine Yamal starred on his return as Spain bounced back from a goalless draw against Cape Verde to thrash Saudi Arabia 4-0 in the FIFA World Cup 2026.
On his return after two months from a groin injury, Yamal made an immediate impact, ending La Roja’s goal drought.
Yamal opened the scoring in the 10th minute before Mikel Oyarzabal’s brace put the Spaniards way ahead in the competition in the first 24 minutes.
Luis de la Fuente’s men now sit at the top of the table in Group H.
Yamal brilliantly slotted a low pass from Oyarzabal into the net to give his side an early lead. The second goal of the evening came off a corner, picked by Olmo from the right side of the box. Oyarzabal found the oppurtunity and found the right side of the goal.
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The Real Sociedad forward scored again in just three minutes. He converted a volley from Dani Olmo’s header to score his 14th goal for his country in his last 13 appearances.
After a dominant first half, Luis de la Fuente substituted both Yamal and Oyarzabal.
The changes did not disrupt the waves of Spanish attack towards the Saudi goal, but the fourth also came via a corner.
Saudi Arabia’s goalkeeper Al-Owais saved a strong shot from Marc Cucurella right after the second half started. But the ball bounced off defender Al Tambakti and went into the net, making it 4-0 for Spain.
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Notably, Saudi Arabia had only one shot on target throughout the match, coming in the last 10 minutes from Abdullah Al Hamdan.
Saudi Arabia will play their final group game against Cape Verde in a bid to advance through to the knockouts for the first time in 32 years.
Meanwhile, Spain will travel to Guadalajara next for the final group game against two-time winners Uruguay on Friday.
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