Lamine Yamal has his first World Cup goal — and Barcelona's teenage superstar marked the occasion in the most fitting way, inspiring Spain to a dominant 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia at Atlanta Stadium that erased the memory of their shock opening-day draw with Cape Verde.
Yamal, starting his first match of the tournament after carefully managing his recovery from the hamstring injury suffered against Real Betis in April, needed just ten minutes to make his mark. Mikel Oyarzabal drove down the left and clipped a low cross to the back post, where Yamal arrived to slide the ball home from close range. It was his first World Cup goal, and only his second international goal in 27 caps for Spain — remarkable given how central he has become to the national team's attacking identity.
The achievement places him in rare company. Yamal is only the second player aged 18 or younger to open the scoring in a World Cup match — the only other was a 17-year-old Pele, against Wales in 1958. When his goal went in, Spain had already completed 39 passes — the most by any team at this World Cup before scoring, underlining the control Yamal's presence gave his side from the very first whistle.
Spain went on to score three goals inside the opening 25 minutes — the first nation to do so at a World Cup since Germany in 2014 — as Oyarzabal added two more either side of Yamal's opener. With the result no longer in doubt, Yamal and Oyarzabal were both withdrawn at half-time as Spain's coaching staff continued to carefully manage the Barcelona winger's return to full match fitness.
Sky Sports described the finish as "a back-post poacher" effort rather than one of Yamal's "typical, beautiful works of art" — evidence, in their analysis, that the 18-year-old is adding a ruthless, simple edge to his game alongside the dribbling and creativity that has already made him one of the most feared attackers in world football. Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente had already flagged the difference Yamal makes after his late cameo against Cape Verde the previous week: "As soon as Lamine came on, he changed how they were playing." Given a start and a full ninety — or in this case, forty-five — minutes of influence, the result spoke for itself.
Spain now sit top of Group H and head into their final group game against Uruguay with confidence fully restored — and Yamal, just 18, with the first World Cup goal of what is expected to be many.
