Oyarzabal double lifts Spain past Saudi Arabia in World Cup group play

Spain’s attacking rhythm kept sharpening just as Saudi Arabia’s margin for error narrowed to almost nothing. Mikel Oyarzabal’s double gave Spain a convincing win in Atlanta Stadium and reinforced the sense that Luis de la Fuente’s side is peaking at the right time, while Saudi Arabia now heads into a decisive meeting with Cabo Verde carrying the weight of every mistake.

Spain arrived at this World Cup as the FIFA/Coca-Cola men’s No. 1 team, unbeaten in 31 competitive matches and placed in a Group H that also included Cabo Verde and Uruguay. The matchup with Saudi Arabia came as Spain’s second group game, after the opener against Cabo Verde on June 15 and before the final group fixture against Uruguay on June 26. That schedule left little room to drift, and Spain again looked like a side built to control the pace, with Oyarzabal at the center of the attack.

Before the tournament, FIFA highlighted Oyarzabal’s surge in form: 11 goals and six assists in his previous 10 matches for Spain, 24 goals in 52 international appearances and a place inside the national team’s all-time top 10 scorers. De la Fuente had already identified the Real Sociedad forward as a key reference point in the absence of Álvaro Morata, describing him as a player who “hace todo bien.” In a squad built around balance and repetition, Oyarzabal has become the forward who turns Spain’s possession into a direct threat.

Lamine Yamal added the generational layer to Spain’s run. FIFA included the Barcelona winger in the 26-man squad and noted that, after the scoreless draw with Cabo Verde, he came off the bench in the 71st minute and immediately brought energy and quality to the attack. Spain’s depth is now part of the story as much as its control, with one wave of attackers feeding the next while the team closes in on first place in the group.

Saudi Arabia’s path has been more fragile. FIFA confirmed on April 23 that Georgios Donis replaced Hervé Renard as head coach only weeks before the tournament, and Saudi Arabia’s opening 1-1 draw with Uruguay in Miami showed both resilience and strain. Abdulelah Alamri scored for Saudi Arabia before Maxi Araujo equalized in the 80th minute, leaving all four teams in the section level on points. FIFA described Saudi Arabia that night as disciplined in defense and quick on the break, but Salem Al-Dawsari’s sense that the Cabo Verde match is “an authentic final” captures the stakes now. Saudi Arabia meets Cabo Verde in Houston on June 26, with the winner of Group H set to advance to face the runner-up from Group J.