Lamine Yamal scored twice and got an assist for Spain as the world champions defeated Croatia 4-1 in the Nations League.

Marc Pubill and Nico Williams were also on the scoresheet for La Roja at Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, where Rodri showcased the World Cup before kick-off in Spain's first home game since winning the competition in the summer.

Just as he did against England in their Nations League opener, Yamal opened the scoring inside the first two minutes as he curled Alex Baena's cut-back into the bottom-left corner with a first-time finish.

Spain pushed for a second, with Pau Cubarsi shooting narrowly wide from distance, but Croatia scored against the run of play just before the half-hour mark as Dion Beljo headed in from Ivan Perisic's pinpoint cross.

However, the hosts were back ahead just three minutes later as Yamal played a corner short before eventually sending in a cross, which was headed in by an unmarked Pubill in the six-yard box.

Mikel Oyarzabal saw a goal ruled out for offside and Fermin Lopez struck the woodwork before half-time, but Spain eventually got their third in the 63rd minute as Yamal powered in at the near post following Pedri's level reverse pass.

Pedri saw a long-range strike pushed away by Dominik Livakovic shortly after Franjo Ivanovic curled wide at the other end, though Williams wrapped up a comfortable victory with a clinical finish in the 89th minute.

Yamal becoming inevitable for club and country

Through Yamal, Spain have scored in the first two minutes of play in consecutive matches for the first time in any competition since at least 2004, and it was just the start of another stellar performance from the teenager.

To go along with his two goals and assist, Yamal also created the joint-most chances for his side (two), attempted the most passes in the final third (24) and the most dribbles (nine), while also winning both of his tackles.

Despite conceding, Luis de la Fuente's side were in control throughout, accumulating 1.77 expected goals (xG) from 16 attempts while restricting Croatia to just 0.44 xG from five shots.

La Roja are now unbeaten in their last 40 matches across all competitions (W31 D9), the best such record by a European nation.

Indeed, Spain have won each of their last nine matches in all competitions, equalling their best winning streak with De la Fuente as head coach (W9 between June and July 2024), and it means they remain in control of Group A3 in the Nations League after winning six points from their opening two games.