Spain beats Croatia 4-1 in its first home match as 2026 World Cup champion

Spain emerged victorious from its first appearance on home soil as champion of the 2026 World Cup, with a great victory over Croatia 4-1 on Tuesday in Seville thanks to a brace and an assist by Lamin Yamal, in the second round of the third group competitions of the European Nations League in football.

Coach Luis de la Fuente's men presented their most expensive trophy at Ramon Sanchez Pijuan Stadium, two months after they were crowned world champions at the expense of Lionel Messi and his teammates in the Argentine national team.

Some of the Spanish champions had already celebrated the second star, whether in the streets of Madrid after the coronation, or during individual ceremonies in their regions, or on the stadiums of the Spanish League, but they had never celebrated it together inside one of their stadiums before.

On Tuesday, they finally had this opportunity against a competitor they were accustomed to facing a lot in the person of Croatia, which kept its aging captain, Luka Modric, who scored on Saturday during the victory over the Czechs (2-1) in his 203rd international match at the age of 41, on the bench until the last minutes, like Rodri on the other hand.

Despite the suffering that the Spanish team faced at Wembley against England in the first round, the “La Roja” players proved, as their coach confirmed, that they are still hungry for victories (3-2).

They entered this confrontation with the same passion and succeeded in strengthening the record in terms of the number of consecutive matches without defeat after raising it to 40, specifically since the friendly match against Colombia on March 22, 2024 (0-1), that is, three and a half years ago, achieving their fourth successive victory over the Croats and eighth in total in 12 confrontations between them.

Spain reached the final at least in the last three editions of the competition and won the title in 2023 when it defeated Croatia in the final, and it appears to be a candidate for another crown, which it will also add to the 2024 European Cup.

The Spaniards did not give their guests a chance to enter the atmosphere, as they opened the scoring less than two minutes after the start through Yamal after a smart pass from Fermin Lopez (2), repeating the scenario of the match against England when he scored less than two minutes later as well.

But the Croats equalized with a header by Dion Drina Belio after a cross by Ivan Peričić (28), scoring his first international goal in his third match in his country’s colours.

However, the Spanish response came quickly, following a corner kick and a cross pass from Yamal, which Mark Bobel pounced on and headed into the net (31), also scoring his first international goal in his fifth participation.

Mikel Oyarzabal thought he had added the third for the hosts, but it was ruled out for offside (36), then the right post intervened to block Fermin Lopez's shot (45).

The performance of the Croatians, who were playing their second match under the leadership of their new, old coach, Slaven Bilic, improved at the beginning of the second half, but Yamal made the difference when he penetrated the right side with a perfect through pass from substitute Pedri, before shooting the ball from a very difficult angle past Dominik Livakovic (63).

Yamal then left his place to Victor Muñoz, while Rodri replaced Martin Zobimendi and Modric replaced Petar Sočić, without any change in the score until the 89th minute, when the other substitute, Neco Williams, added the fourth goal after penetrating the left side and shooting from a very difficult angle.

In the capital, Prague, England achieved its first victory in Group C of the first level of the European Nations League, beating its host Czech Republic 2-0 on Tuesday in the second round, benefiting from numerical superiority.

The team, which finished third in the North American World Cup, lost to its Spanish counterpart, the world champion, 2-3 in the first round.

The Three Lions team strengthened its hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals of the competition for the second time, before two upcoming confrontations with its Croatian host on October 3 and at home against the Czechs again on the sixth of October.

German coach Thomas Tuchel had refused to consider the confrontation “decisive” despite his first loss to Spain, but he achieved what was required and achieved the second victory in a row over the Czechs.

On the other hand, the Czech Republic lost with its new Spanish coach, Santi Denia, for the second match in a row after the first, against Croatia 1-2.

The most prominent events of the first half were the expulsion of Czech midfielder Pavel Schulz after returning to the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), following a violent intervention on Elliot Anderson (25).

The hosts also suffered a second blow with the exit of the other midfielder, Adam Karabek, due to injury (45).

But the Czech team held out for 45 minutes, with timid attempts by the visitors, the most notable of which was a shot by Morgan Rogers close to the left post (16) and an attempt by top scorer Harry Kane in the hands of goalkeeper Matej Kovar (45+1).

Anthony Gordon only waited two minutes after the start of the second half to open the scoring, when Trent Alexander-Arnold took advantage of an incorrect pass and played a long cross towards the Barcelona Spanish winger, who followed it to the left of the goal (47).

Kane settled matters in the second with a close shot (69).

The Czech attacks in the second half did not pose any threat, with the exception of Adam Hlujek's shot, which was blocked by goalkeeper James Trafford (77).

Rogers and substitute Eberechi Eze tried to add the third, but their attempts did not reach the goal, so the English team settled for two goals.

Spanish club Real Madrid has begun searching again for reinforcements for its midfield.

The Spanish newspaper "Sport" reported that the club has expressed interest in Alex Scott (23 years old), the English player who plays for Bournemouth.

Real Madrid's interest in signing the player comes at a time when the midfield remains one of the positions that worries Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho.

Real Madrid actually tried to solve the midfield problem during the last summer transfers, by signing Spanish international midfielder Rodri, as a major contractual target, but in the end the player chose to move to rival Barcelona, ​​after negotiations with Real Madrid.

Mourinho himself later admitted that he had spoken to the player, and the club made him a special offer to move to him.

The alternative was Portuguese Bernardo Silva, who joined on a free transfer from Manchester City, England, and signed a contract with Real Madrid until 2028. However, the player was not very convincing.

The derby match against Atletico Madrid highlighted the midfield dilemma once again, as Mourinho prefers the duo of Valverde and Chouamini, while Bernardo Silva does not remain an option. What is more, the preferred duo does not give Mourinho the desired control over the matches.

Some Real Madrid fans believe that since the departure of the German Toni Kroos, the team has not found a player capable of controlling the tempo of the game from the back, calming the tempo when there is a need for that, and transferring the ball in an organized manner between the team members. After that, the Croatian Luka Modric left, so that this deep-rooted feeling among the fans increased, and Rodri started an appropriate solution but did not join in the end.

Here the importance of Alex Scott appears, who moved from Bristol City to Bournemouth in 2023, in a deal worth approximately 25 million pounds sterling, and he graduated in playing to play more roles deep inside the field.

Although he started his career as an offensive player, he has emerged in recent seasons as an offensive and pivotal midfielder, and he can also play in the defensive midfield position. His ability to dribble, penetrate lines with the ball, contribute to recovering the ball, and play in various levels and positions on the field, are among the most prominent features that attracted the interest of clubs to him.

Scott also gave a distinguished performance with Bournemouth last season, where he played 34 matches mainly in the English Premier League, and developed in his game, becoming one of the best young midfielders in English football.

His contract with Bournemouth runs until June 2028, and his club had previously rejected offers from Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United last summer. According to English reports, the player is valued at approximately 80 million pounds sterling.

An independent committee convicted English club Manchester City of committing violations of the English Premier League’s financial regulations in the period between the 2009-2010 and 2017-2018 seasons.

Amidst anticipation of the thorny decision to impose sanctions against the English club, the British news agency (PA Media) reviews a series of the strongest sanctions in the history of sports.

At the forefront of these penalties is the “Calciopoli” scandal, where Juventus was relegated to the Italian second division, in addition to deducting 9 points from its score after prominent officials in the club were involved in manipulating arbitration decisions.

The sanctions also included stripping Juventus of the Italian Premier League titles in 2005 and 2006, and deducting points from Milan, Fiorentina, Lazio and Reggina.

In the SpyJet scandal, the McLaren team, which competes in the Formula 1 World Championship, was punished with a fine of $100 million in addition to being excluded from the World Manufacturers’ Championship due to the leak of confidential information containing about 800 pages about the Ferrari team’s car for the 2007 season.

This information was leaked by Nigel Stepney, a Ferrari employee, to his friend Mike Coughlan, chief designer at the McLaren team.

The plan was revealed when Coughlan's wife took the documents to a local photocopying store, where she aroused the suspicions of the store owner, who was a Ferrari fan, and he informed the Italian team officials of the matter.

In 2016, Durham Cricket Club was relegated to the second division after the England and Wales Cricket Board decided to deduct 48 points from its score due to the team suffering from financial problems due to its huge spending on developing its stadium to host the largest number of international matches.

The penalties also included deducting points from the club's balance in limited-round competitions and stripping it of hosting test matches.

Saracens, the four-time English Premier Rugby League champion, was also punished with a 35-point deduction and a £5 million fine in November 2019, for not adhering to the salary cap.

Because of this punishment, the team was placed at the bottom of the league table, and at the beginning of 2020, the English Premier Rugby League confirmed Saracens’ relegation to the second division for the 2020-2021 season, due to its inability to reduce the salary cap.

In 1906, the English Football Association convicted Manchester City of violating player payment regulations aimed at ensuring equal opportunities and fair competition.

The penalties included 17 players, in addition to banning two club officials for life, and banning two others for one year.

In another spying scandal, Southampton was excluded from the English Premier League qualifiers last May, losing potential financial gains of no less than 200 million pounds over three seasons if it advances to the Premier League.

Southampton was punished after the club admitted to three espionage charges, one of which related to Middlesbrough, before the two teams’ match in the qualifiers. It was also decided to deduct 4 points from Southampton's balance this season.