Striker Mikel Oyarzabal got two superb first-half goals and substitute Victor Munoz scored on his senior international debut as Spain cruised to a 3-0 win over Serbia in a pre-World Cup friendly on Friday.
2026 Friendlies
3-0
Match Report
With Serbia stepping into the breach after Spain's original plan to play Argentina in Qatar was derailed by the ongoing conflict in the Gulf, the Spaniards took the opportunity to hone their attacking play with some breathtaking movement and incisive passing that allowed them to create plenty of chances.
Spain took the lead in the 16th minute with a brilliantly constructed goal that saw Lamine Yamal feed midfielder Fermin who worked the ball on quickly for Oyarzabal to blast into the net with a fierce left-foot shot.
As Spain attacked relentlessly, Yamal received the ball on the edge of the box from Alex Baena three minutes later, but his low spinning drive struck the foot of the post and bounced away to safety.
Veljko Birmancevic had Serbia’s first shot of the game in the 21st minute but it flew harmlessly into the hands of Unai Simon, and the visitors struggled to create decent goal-scoring chances.
Fermin had the ball in the net in the 36th minute but the goal was ruled out due to it bouncing off his arm in the build-up as he was tackled by Aleksandar Stankovic, and Spain were denied a penalty minutes later when the ball struck the arm of defender Nikola Milenkovic in similar circumstances.
Oyarzabal netted his second goal with a tremendous shot from the edge of the box in the 44th minute and though Spain continued to dominate, it took until the 72nd minute for them to find the net again, Munoz scoring after being teed up by a brilliant back-heel from Ferran Torres.
Spain will compete in Group H of the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico, kicking off against Cape Verde on June 15 before going on to meet Saudi Arabia and Uruguay.
Match Events
0' The match is about to start!
5' Baena curls a shot which is high
14' Match Event for Spain vs Serbia
16' GOAL! Spain 1-0 Serbia (Mikel Oyarzabal)
33' Match Event for Spain vs Serbia
36' Highlight from Spain vs Serbia
43' GOAL! Spain 2-0 Serbia
50' Highlight from Spain vs Serbia
55' Highlight from Spain vs Serbia
72' GOAL! Spain 3-0 Serbia
74' Highlight from Spain vs Serbia
Line-ups
Spain XI: Laporte, Llorente, Unai Simón, Cucurella, Oyarzabal, Rodri, Álex Baena, Pedri, Fermín López, Yamal, Cubarsi
Subs: Grimaldo, Álex Remiro, Iglesias, David Raya, Olmo, Soler, Ferran Torres, Fornals, Martín Zubimendi, Porro, Yeremy, Ander Barrenetxea, Cristhian Mosquera, Víctor Muñoz, Dean Huijsen
Serbia XI: Gudelj, Kostic, Mitrovic, Milinkovic-Savic, Vanja Milinković-Savić, Veljko Birmancevic, Milenkovic, Aleksa Terzic, S. Pavlovic, Aleksandar Stanković, Ognjen Mimović
Subs: P. Rajković, Gacinovic, Lukic, Jovic, Petrovic, Joveljic, Djordje Petrovic, Strahinja Erakovic, Lazar Samardžić, Petar Ratkov, Petar Stanic, Kosta Nedeljkovic, Stefan Bukinac, Vanja Dragojevic, Vasilije Kostov