Lamine Yamal stars as Spain mark World Cup return with Croatia win

Lamine Yamal scored twice and provided an assist as Spain celebrated their first home match since winning the World Cup with a 4-1 victory over Croatia in the Nations League.

Marc Pubill and Nico Williams were also on target as Spain extended their unbeaten run to 40 matches, a sequence which includes their final victory over Argentina in the United States in June.

Spain will face Czech Republic in Group A3 on Saturday.

Yamal’s performance further strengthened his claim for the Ballon d’Or, with voting having closed on Monday and the winner due to be announced on October 26.

“We’ve enjoyed his magic in the service of the team. In the future, he’ll be much more recognised for what he does and for his contribution to the team’s play,” Spain manager Luis de la Fuente told Teledeporte.

Before kick-off at a packed Estadio Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan, captain Rodri displayed the World Cup trophy to the home supporters. It was presented to him by Sevilla legend Jesus Navas, who won the competition with Spain in 2010.

“We were very excited to bring the trophy here,” Yamal said.

“To be able to win the game and bring it home is great,” he added.

Yamal, Alex Baena and Mikel Oyarzabal all retained their places in attack after scoring in Spain’s dramatic 3-2 victory over England at Wembley on Saturday.

Croatia made six changes from their weekend win against Czech Republic, with Luka Modric starting on the bench.

Yamal had scored within two minutes against England and needed only 75 seconds to break the deadlock in Andalusia. He collected the ball before finishing to give Spain an early lead against Slaven Bilic’s side.

Croatia levelled shortly before the half-hour mark when Dion Beljo headed in an Ivan Perisic cross. The 1.95m-tall forward rose above the Spanish defence to meet the delivery.

Spain restored their advantage two minutes later. Yamal delivered an accurate cross for Pubill, who headed past Dominik Livakovic.

The hosts came close to adding a third immediately before half-time, but Fermin Lopez’s effort struck the post instead of finding the bottom corner.

Yamal doubled his tally after 63 minutes, beating his Barcelona team-mate Livakovic at the Croatia goalkeeper’s near post. The goal took the teenager’s international total to 10 in 35 appearances.

Williams completed the scoring with fewer than two minutes remaining, producing a sharp dribble before finishing confidently for Spain’s fourth.

“The first half could have ended 4–1 or 5–1, and the second half was more of the same,” said De la Fuente.

“We were up against a team that defends well and is strong in the air, so you have to be on your toes in every situation. But then we regained possession, our passing and control of the game.”