Lamine Yamal, Rodri and Mikel Merino fire Spain to an unnecessarily hard-fought win over the Czech Republic

Spain made it three wins from three in the Nations League on Saturday night. After beating England and Croatia, they also saw off the Czech Republic 3-1. Lamine Yamal, Rodri and Mikel Merino scored for Spain. Jiri Slama replied in between, but the Czechs still remain on zero points. England and Croatia, the other teams in the group, were in action earlier in the day.

In Oviedo, Spain expectedly dominated from the start, and Yamal could have scored inside a minute. The right winger was not quite switched on after a through ball from Dani Olmo and dragged his shot wide.

Moments later, Yamal did score. The Ballon d'Or candidate received the ball on the edge of the box, sent Roman Macek the wrong way with a feint and brilliantly curled into the top corner with his left foot: 1-0.

For long spells, the Czechs could do little but chase the ball, though that did not always help Spain's sharpness. The slick attacking moves kept coming, though. Yamal, for example, nearly had his second with a lob that dropped just wide of Antonín Kinský's goal. The Spurs goalkeeper kept PSV player Matej Kovár on the bench.

Then, shortly after Dani Olmo had fired straight at Kinský from a free position, the world champions made it 2-0. Pedri dribbled into the box and a Czech player poked the ball away from his feet, only to tee Rodri up for a close-range finish: 2-0.

At the start of the second half, little changed. Spain controlled the game and kept missing chances, leaving the door open for a reply. Slama eventually provided it, beating David Raya with a shot into the far corner: 2-1.

Almost straight away, the Czech Republic could have equalised through former Feyenoord player Ondrej Lingr, after the unconvincing Raya simply gifted him the ball. The Czech's shot was too weak, though, allowing Raya to recover his position in front of goal in time.

Next came what looked like the equaliser. Raya completely misjudged a high ball and Ryan Naderi tucked away the loose ball. Referee Vassilis Fotias bailed Spain out and disallowed the goal for a foul on Robin Le Normand.

Soon after that, captain Ladislav Krejci saw yellow for his furious protests. A few minutes later he was off, sent for an early shower after committing a professional foul to halt another Spanish attack.

With a minute left, Spain finally killed it off. Víctor Muñoz was denied from close range by Kinský, who could not stop Merino from forcing home the rebound: 3-1. Spain conclude their international period in Croatia on Tuesday, while the Czech Republic are away to England at the same time.

ONGELOFELIJK! 😯 Lamine Yamal zet Spanje, wederom, vroeg op voorsprong met deze parel ✨#ZiggoSport #UEFANationsLeague #SPACZE — Ziggo Sport Voetbal (@ZS_Voetbal) October 3, 2026