Spain marked their first home game since lifting the World Cup with a 4-1 Nations League win over Croatia on Tuesday, as Lamine Yamal scored twice and set up a third. Marc Pubill and Nico Williams were also on the scoresheet, and the result extended Spain’s unbeaten run to 40 matches — a sequence that includes June’s final victory over Argentina in the United States.
Yamal took just 75 seconds to open the scoring against Slaven Bilic’s side in Andalusia, finishing with his left foot. The 19-year-old had also scored inside two minutes in Saturday’s win over England at Wembley, and his goal against Croatia took his tally of international goals to nine in 36 appearances.
Croatia responded just before the half-hour mark, Dion Beljo heading home from an Ivan Perisic cross, the 6ft 4in attacker levelling for the visitors. The parity lasted only two minutes: Pubill restored Spain’s lead with a header from a pinpoint Yamal cross, and the provider turned scorer again on 63 minutes, beating Barcelona teammate and Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic at his near post. With fewer than two minutes remaining, Athletic Bilbao’s Williams added a fourth with a crisp dribble and finish.
The performance strengthened Yamal’s case for the Ballon d’Or, with voting having closed on Monday and the winner due to be announced on 26 October.
Before kick-off at a packed Estadio Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán, Spain’s captain Rodri showed off the World Cup trophy, having been handed it by Sevilla legend Jesus Navas, a member of Spain’s 2010 World Cup-winning side. “We were very excited to bring the cup here,” Yamal said. “To be able to win the game and bring it home is great.”
Spain are next in action on Saturday against the Czech Republic in Group A3.
Elsewhere, Slovenia beat North Macedonia 2-0 in Group B1 with goals from Sandi Lovric and Aljosa Matko. Moldova were held to a 1-1 draw at home by the Faroe Islands, while Slovakia beat Kazakhstan 2-1. Iceland were 3-0 winners in Luxembourg and Estonia drew 1-1 in Bulgaria, with Finland and Belarus playing out a scoreless draw in Helsinki.