Lamine Yamal, at 16, becomes the youngest player to ever appear in Euros history

Not even two weeks had passed since Daniel Carvajal scored in the UEFA Champions League final for Real Madrid. The 1.73 m tall full-back was the first to get to Yamal’s cross and expertly guided the ball past Croatian keeper Dominik Livakovic.

His goal marked the third for Spain and proved to be the final nail in the coffin for Croatia.

Spain kick off Euros campaign with stunning victory over Croatia

Spain were eliminated on penalties in the semi-finals of the 2021 Euros against eventual champions Italy. The La Roja however, were in no mood to waste time as they kicked off their campaign for the 2024 edition. Goals from Daniel Carvajal, Fabian Ruiz and Alvaro Morata meant that the atmosphere in the Spain camp remained electric for matches to come.

Croatia were dealt their first blow by Alvaro Morata, who became the third-highest scorer in Euros history, only behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Michel Platini . Their opening goal was quickly followed up by a brilliant solo effort from Fabian Ruiz. The Paris Saint-Germain player danced past the Croatian defense as if they were training cones, before striking the ball low and hard past Livakovic.

Barcelona and Real Madrid stars Lamine Yamal and Carvajal combined to give La Roja a three-goal advantage before half-time. Croatia failed to create any significant efforts at goal even though they enjoyed a significant share of possession throughout the game. The referee awarded Croatia a penalty in the final minutes of the game, which was scored by Bruno Petkovic. This however, was disallowed citing encroachment inside the penalty area.