Spain jumped to an early commanding lead during their group-stage matchup against Saudi Arabia in the 2026 World Cup. Although Lamine Yamal and Mikel Oyarzabal scored the team’s goals in the first half, they were subbed off before the start of the second half, leaving fans to wonder why.
Spain’s dominant outing against Saudi Arabia was just how Luis de la Fuente dreamt of the group-stage going. Thus, with Yamal coming off a long absence due to injury and Oyarzabal being managed cautiously, the 3-0 lead at halftime gave the national team’s head coach the perfect chance to rotate his players.
As Fabrizio Romano reported, Spain had a clear plan to manage the players dealing with setbacks, and virtually ending the game before the break allowed them to execute that plan to perfection.
Yamal’s injury
Since suffering a hamstring injury in April, Lamine Yamal hadn’t started a game until he was included in Spain’s starting XI to take on Saudi Arabia. In his first game back, he didn’t disappoint. Yamal scored Spain’s first goal of the 2026 World Cup and only opened the floodgates for his side to blow Saudi Arabia out of the water.
Lamine Yamal’s celebration after his first goal in a World Cup.
However, de la Fuente never expected Yamal to play the full 90 minutes. While the original plan called for Yamal to play an hour of soccer at Atlanta Stadium against Saudi Arabia, La Furia Roja did their job to perfection and with time to spare.
Thus, and because Yamal showed some discomfort in the back of his leg at times during the match, de la Fuente was extra cautious and subbed off both Yamal and Oyarzabal.
Who replaced Yamal and Oyarzabal?
As Yamal and Oyarzabal made their way to the bench, Yeremy Pino and Ferran Torres came onto the pitch for Spain. With the game out of reach for Saudi Arabia, de la Fuente took the liberty of experimenting with different looks and tactics. One thing stayed the same, and that was Spain’s dominance of possession and their constant suffocating of opponents.
