World Cup: Yamal shines as Spain wallop Saudi Arabia
Lamine Yamal marked his first start at the 2026 World Cup with a goal to lead Spain to a 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia on Sunday in a Group H encounter.
The Barcelona star came off the bench in the disappointing 0-0 draw against Cape Verde in Spain’s first match but he was handed a starting shirt in the encounter.
Luis de la Fuente made the three changes to the team that drew against Cape Verde with Ferran Torres, Gavi and Fabian Ruiz dropping to the bench.
The trio of Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena replaced them in the starting lineup.
Yamal opened the scoring in the 10th minute with a close finish at the near post from Mikel Oyarzabal’s cross.
Oyarzabal added the second goal in the 21st minute with a low drive.
He completed his brace three minutes later, finishing off a Dani Olmo’s flick to make it 3-0.
Cucurella’s effort deflected off Al Tambakt into the back of the net to make it 4-0.
Spain will be back in action against Uruguay on Saturday while Saudi Arabia will take on Cape Verde on the same day.
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Top Stats From Spain vs Saudi Arabia
18 – Lamine Yamal is only the second player aged 18 or younger to open the scoring in a FIFA World Cup match – the other was a 17-year-old Pelé for Brazil v Wales in 1958.
1 – On MD1, Mikel Oyarzabal became the first player on record with 0 touches in the first 30 minutes of a FIFA World Cup game.
On MD2, he became just the third player to score/assist three goals in the opening 30 minutes (both since 1966).
3 – With two goals and an assist, Spain’s Mikel Oyarzabal is only the second player on record (from 1966) to score or assist three goals in the opening 25 minutes of a FIFA World Cup match, after Hungary’s László Fazekas against El Salvador in 1982 (1 goal, 2 assists).
Each of Spain’s last four World Cup wins have all come at different tournaments:
◉ 3-0 vs. Australia (2014)
◉ 1-0 vs. Iran (2018)
◉ 7-0 vs. Costa Rice (2022)
◉ 4-0 vs. Saudi Arabia (2026)
The last time they won multiple matches at a World Cup tournament, they won the trophy in 2010.
Spain have now won all seven matches in major tournaments when Lamine Yamal has started.
They’re now unbeaten in their last 22 in all competitions when he’s been in the starting XI (16W 6D).
Mikel Oyarzabal has now been directly involved in 21 goals in his last 13 games for Spain:
◉ 14 goals
◉ 7 assists
