Spain’s 4-0 – Six days after Spain’s humiliating goalless stalemate against Cape Verde at the World Cup sent shockwaves, Lamine Yamal struck early and Spain swept Saudi Arabia 4-0 at the same Atlanta Stadium. Yamal’s 11th-minute goal, plus finishes from Mikel Oyarzabal, Dan
Six days after Spain sleepwalked to humiliation in Atlanta—failing to breach the defense of the World Cup’s 67th-ranked team in a stalemate that sent shockwaves across the globe—Spain returned to the field with their swagger intact.
At the very same stadium, the Cape Verde stage fright looked like nothing more than a blip. This time. Spain dismantled Saudi Arabia 4-0 with teenage sensation Lamine Yamal starting. scoring in the 11th minute. and setting the tone for a performance that felt sharp. fluent and ruthless from the opening moments.
Yamal first made sure there would be no repeat of the drab, goalless draw. Inside the 11th minute, he swept home from Mikel Oyarzabal’s cross to put Spain in front. Then came Saudi Arabia’s first real crack when Firas Al-Buraikan failed to clear a ball into the box; it eventually worked its way to Oyarzabal. who was free to poke in one of the easiest goals he’ll ever score.
The game’s rhythm changed again two minutes later. Dani Olmo’s header dropped to Oyarzabal in acres of space at the back post. and Oyarzabal made it Spain’s third. Marc Cucurella then pushed the rout further. making it four when he was left completely alone in the six-yard box minutes into the second half.
By then, Yamal—who had fizzled out after a bright opening half hour—was taken off at the interval, wisely by De la Fuente with Spain already cruising at 3-0. Oyarzabal was also replaced, despite being one goal away from a hat-trick.
Saudi Arabia were able to stop the rot from that point on. Spain, already comfortable, played tika-taka keep-ball for the remaining 47 minutes on a bright, controlled afternoon in Atlanta.
Yamal, up and running. This was his official World Cup start, and it looked like it came at exactly the right time. La Roja’s wonderkid showed in his first minutes what Spain had lacked through the sluggish opening display against Cape Verde. From as early as the opening minute. he twisted and turned down the right-hand side. outmuscled a Saudi Arabia defender and fired a dangerous ball across goal.
The flair was there, the cutting edge too—something De la Fuente had seemingly been missing six days ago. And when the breakthrough arrived in the 11th minute, it landed with the force of inevitability. Yamal slid the ball home from Oyarzabal’s cross to register his and Spain’s first goal of the tournament.
He wheeled away in celebration, though his knee-slide attempt didn’t go smoothly; he briefly stumbled before getting back to his feet. It was the kind of moment that makes a manager’s heart sink and then restart, even with the crowd watching the game drift toward cruise control.
For the first 30 minutes, Yamal lived on the right flank. His speed and trickery caused all sorts of problems for Saudi’s backline, and his ability to provoke chaos every time he received the ball left the Spanish side—and their supporters—on edge in anticipation of what might come next.
But his first start only lasted 45 minutes. De la Fuente took him off at the interval to protect the player’s energy and the momentum of a match already firmly in Spain’s hands.
The story changed again because Saudi’s defending didn’t just fail—it unpicked itself. After the early damage from Yamal’s opener, Saudi’s backline looked even more passive in the moments that followed. In the 21st minute, Oyarzabal was handed his first in almost comical fashion.
Al-Buraikan tried to chest down a scuffed Dani Olmo shot in the box, and the ball ricocheted into the kind of chaos that usually belongs to pinball games. It eventually worked its way to Oyarzabal, who was left to poke in—one of the simplest finishes of the day.
Two minutes later, the Saudi frustration reached a new peak when Cucurella teed up Olmo near the penalty spot. Olmo’s header to the back post gave Oyarzabal the chance to bundle in his second and Spain’s third.
Saudi manager Georgios Donis—an ex-Blackburn player who took charge at the end of April and had picked his World Cup squad having not officially overseen a game—had his head in his hands once more. The image said everything about the match’s direction.
The defensive collapse continued after the break. Cucurella was left totally unmarked from a corner to make it four just after the restart.
Six days earlier, Cape Verde had shown Spain a blueprint for keeping them out. Saudi Arabia didn’t seem to have read it. Instead, the same kind of mistakes arrived in repeated doses—far too easy to break, far too passive to stop Spain from piling on pressure.
Spain had more to offer than just relief at escaping their earlier wobble. Don’t sleep on them, the performance insisted. In the first half. Atletico Madrid midfielder Alex Baena was impressive on the left of De la Fuente’s attack. combining well with Cucurella after coming in for Gavi. who was largely anonymous six days ago.
Oyarzabal, who had registered no touch in the first half-hour against Cape Verde, was back to his clinical best. Olmo, sitting just behind him, was a constant threat.
Heading into the tournament. Spain had been one of the favorites to go all the way in New Jersey next month. After the opening wobble. this 4-0 statement at Atlanta served as a reminder of why that status wasn’t a fluke. The slip-up against Cape Verde looked like a blip. The sharpness against Saudi looked like the real deal.
But outside the pitch, another tension hung over the World Cup—one that didn’t need a scoreboard to be felt.
Ahead of Sunday’s game, the cheapest tickets on resale sites were listed for upwards of $1,000. The report of empty seats around World Cup stadiums this summer has become familiar enough to be exhausting. Today at Atlanta Stadium, it was the same story.
The empty red seats were the same color as Spain jerseys. so they blended in more than usual—FIFA’s blushes were spared somewhat. Still. unless hundreds of spectators decided to watch the action on televisions in the concourse. the claim shown over the speaker and on the big screen that there was a “full house” of 68. 239 couldn’t have been accurate.
Spain made sure the focus stayed where it belonged—on the field, on Yamal getting off the mark, and on a demolition of Saudi Arabia that turned last week’s shock into a distant memory.
MISRYOUM Sports News Spain Saudi Arabia Lamine Yamal Mikel Oyarzabal Dani Olmo Marc Cucurella World Cup Atlanta Stadium