Spain coach Luis de la Fuente celebrated his birthday watching his team secure an impressive 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia to record their first win of the 2026 World Cup, with recent Real Madrid signing Marc Cucurella playing the full 90 minutes.
It came after De la Fuente made four changes to the side that drew 0-0 with Cape Verde in the opening game, including the decision to replace La Fábrica product Marcos Llorente with Tottenham’s Pedro Porro at right-back.
The result was that 53 shots after their
last one against Japan in the group stages in 2022, Spain scored a World Cup goal on 10 minutes as Lamine Yamal tapped in at the far post after smart work by Mikel Oyarzabal, who then scored a second goal for Spain himself 11 minutes later and a third only two minutes after.
Cucurella was involved in the third strike as he cut the ball back from Pedro Porro’s cross to Dani Olmo, who teed up the Real Sociedad captain to score.
The left-back also made a claim for Spain’s fourth goal, which would’ve been his second goal for his nation and his first at the World Cup. His volley forced goalkeeper Mohammed Al Owais into a save which rebounded off Hassan Al Tambatki and into the back of the Saudi Arabian net.
Spain will now wrap up the group stage hoping to secure top spot with the hardest of their group fixtures, taking on Fede Valverde’s Uruguay on Friday evening at Guadalajara Stadium in Mexico.
