Spain extended their record unbeaten run to 40 matches inside 90 minutes (W30, D10) after cruising to a 4-1 victory over Croatia. The result also ended Croatia’s five-match unbeaten away run (W4, D1).
Spain once again made a blistering start, taking just two minutes to break the deadlock, just as they did against England in their previous outing. A swift attacking move opened up Croatia’s defence before Lamine Yamal calmly finished first time. Alex Baena, who impressed after coming off the bench on Saturday, nearly doubled the advantage shortly afterwards, but his low effort was saved by Dominik Livakovic.
Croatia gradually found their footing and Spain came close to extending their lead when Pau Cubarsi’s powerful attempt narrowly missed the target. However, against the run of play, Croatia drew level before the half-hour mark. Dion Beljo, earning only his third international appearance, scored his first goal for his country after getting ahead of Dean Huijsen to head home Ivan Perisic’s inviting delivery.
The equaliser lasted only three minutes, as Spain quickly regained the lead. Marc Pubill timed his run perfectly to meet Lamine Yamal’s delivery from a corner routine and headed home. Spain almost added a third before the break, but Mikel Oyarzabal was caught offside when attempting to convert a rebound, while Fermin Lopez was denied his first goal for La Roja after his curling effort struck the post.
Croatia faced a difficult task after the interval, particularly given that seven of their previous eight defeats had come against teams currently ranked in FIFA’s top 10. Their hopes of a comeback suffered another blow when Pedri found Yamal with a perfectly weighted pass. The youngster controlled the ball in his stride before firing past Livakovic at the near post to take his Spain goal tally into double figures.
Spain continued to dominate possession and search for another goal, with Livakovic forced into action again to keep out Pedri’s effort. Croatia struggled to mount a serious response as La Roja controlled proceedings.
Nico Williams then put the result beyond doubt late on, cutting into the penalty area before firing home Spain’s fourth goal of the night.
The victory means Luis de la Fuente has now guided Spain to nine consecutive wins, while La Roja have not lost at home since their defeat to Switzerland in 2022. Six points from their opening two matches put the world champions top of the group, three points clear of Croatia.
For Slaven Bilic, the defeat marked his first since returning as Croatia manager, ending hopes of matching his previous 14-match unbeaten run (W12, D2).