Sports
Spain beat Croatia as Yamal strikes early in Nations League
September 29, 2026 at 09:03 PM · Updated 16d ago
Coverage
13 reports · 9 in Arabic, 4 in English · over 13 hours
Spain defeated Croatia in the UEFA Nations League second round, with Lamine Yamal scoring the opening goal inside two minutes.
- Spain defeated Croatia in the UEFA Nations League Group A3 second-round match on Tuesday.
- Lamine Yamal scored Spain's opening goal in the 2nd minute after a 70-second, 26-touch move.
- Spain entered the match after a 3-2 win over England in the first round.
- Croatia coach Slaven Bilić left Luka Modrić out of the starting lineup.
- Spain won 4-1 with Marc Pubill and Nico Williams also scoring after Dion Beljo had briefly equalised.
- The victory extended Spain's record unbeaten run to 40 consecutive matches, opening a three-point lead atop the group.
- Yamal scored twice and assisted once, becoming the youngest European to reach 10 international goals since 1960.
- Spain coach Luis de la Fuente praised Yamal's 'magic' and humility, saying the forward puts his talent at the team's service.
- Yamal said familiarity with Barcelona teammate and Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic helped him score his second goal.
- Rodri displayed the World Cup trophy before kick-off at the packed Estadio Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán in Spain's first home match since winning the title.
- Yamal downplayed Ballon d'Or speculation, saying he plays for himself, his fans and his national team rather than for the award.
- Yamal said he does not vote and does not know who won, adding he must simply wait and keep playing.










