Lamine Yamal scored twice as Spain cruised to a 4-1 victory over Croatia, extending their unbeaten run inside 90 minutes to 40 matches and maintaining their perfect start to the campaign.
Spain made a blistering start, taking just two minutes to break the deadlock when Yamal calmly finished a swift attacking move to put La Roja ahead.
Croatia gradually settled into the game and found an equaliser before the half-hour mark. Dion Beljo, making only his third international appearance, scored his first goal for Croatia by heading home Ivan Perisic’s inviting delivery.
The equaliser lasted only three minutes, however, as Spain immediately restored their lead. Marc Pubill timed his run perfectly to meet Yamal’s delivery from a corner routine and headed past Dominik Livakovic.
Spain continued to create chances before the break, with Mikel Oyarzabal seeing a rebound ruled out for offside, while Fermin Lopez struck the post with a curling effort.
After the interval, Spain increased the pressure and Yamal struck again. Pedri found the youngster with a perfectly weighted pass, allowing him to control the ball in his stride before firing past Livakovic at the near post.
The goal took Yamal’s Spain tally into double figures as the 40-match unbeaten run continued.
Spain dominated possession thereafter, with Livakovic making further saves to keep the scoreline down. Croatia struggled to mount a serious response, and Nico Williams sealed the victory late in the game after cutting into the penalty area and firing home Spain’s fourth.
The victory extended Luis de la Fuente’s winning run as Spain manager to nine consecutive matches. La Roja have also remained unbeaten at home since their defeat to Switzerland in 2022.
Spain now have six points from their opening two matches and sit top of the group, three points ahead of Croatia.
For Croatia manager Slaven Bilic, the defeat ended his unbeaten start since returning to the national team, bringing his previous 14-match unbeaten run of 12 wins and two draws to an end.
The result also ended Croatia’s five-match unbeaten away run, while Spain extended their record unbeaten run inside 90 minutes to 40 matches, comprising 30 wins and 10 draws.