After the hand-wringing of their goalless draw with Cape Verde, the European champions answered in 25 ruthless first-half minutes. Lamine Yamal, restored to the starting XI, slid in at the back post to open the scoring on 10 minutes — his first World Cup goal — and Mikel Oyarzabal then struck twice in two-and-a-half minutes (13', 16') to put the game beyond Saudi Arabia before the half-hour. A Hassan Al-Tambakti own goal early in the second half completed a 4–0 rout that booked Spain's place in the Round of 32.

It was a statement of intent: Spain became the first side to score three times in the opening 25 minutes of a World Cup match since Germany's 7–1 demolition of Brazil in 2014, and Luis de la Fuente could withdraw Yamal and Oyarzabal at the break with the job already done.

Weird & wonderful

The two players who broke Saudi Arabia — Yamal and Oyarzabal — combined for all the early damage and then watched the second half from the bench. Spain's xG of 2.28 to Saudi Arabia's 0.11 tells the story of how lopsided the contest was: La Roja's misfiring opener was a memory by half-time.

The underlying numbers are as one-sided as the 4-0 scoreline: Spain dominated 71% of the ball and posted 2.28 xG to Saudi Arabia’s 0.11, having attempted 21 shots to 3 and an 8-1 edge on target. Almost all the damage came in a frantic opening 25 minutes — Yamal’s back-post finish and Oyarzabal’s two-and-a-half-minute brace — after which Spain eased off, withdrawing both scorers at the break with the game already won. Saudi Arabia’s 0.11 xG underlines that they never threatened; this was a statement response to the Cape Verde stalemate rather than a contest.