Spain demonstrated their status as World Cup favorites with a dominant 3-0 victory over Serbia. A clinical first-half brace from Mikel Oyarzabal gave La Roja control, and debutant Victor Munoz added a third goal to complete the emphatic win.
The match served as a last-minute replacement after UEFA canceled Spain’s scheduled Finalissima against Argentina due to conflict in the Middle East. Serbia, who had been set to face Qatar in a friendly, stepped in as opponents.
Serbia vs Spain (Friendly)
Oyarzabal Shines for Spain
Spain started brightly, with Alex Baena nearly opening the scoring in the fifth minute. His curled effort from inside the box targeted the top right corner. Baena, who recently moved from Villarreal to Atletico Madrid, was playing on familiar ground.
In the 16th minute, Spain sliced through the Serbian defense to take the lead. Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal and Fermin Lopez linked up on the edge of the box, with Lopez passing to Mikel Oyarzabal. The Real Sociedad striker controlled the ball with his left foot and powered it into the top right corner. This marked Oyarzabal’s 10th goal in his last 10 matches for Spain. Baena’s feint in the buildup created the vital space after Lopez’s pass.
Three minutes later, Yamal’s left-footed strike from the edge of the box hit the right post, again assisted by Baena to the 2024 Golden Boy winner.
In the 35th minute, Lopez thought he had his first international goal, but Portuguese referee Luis Godinho ruled it out for handball in the buildup.
The 43rd minute produced a sublime moment. Pau Cubarsi zipped the ball to Oyarzabal, who had space outside the box. With one touch and a glance, Oyarzabal curled a left-footed strike into the top right corner. Vanja Milinkovic-Savic had reason to be furious at his defense and midfield for failing to press the dangerous forward.
Luis de la Fuente’s side led 2-0 at halftime, while Veljko Paunovic’s Serbia had offered little threat in the opening 45 minutes.
Munoz Marks Debut with a Goal
At halftime, Spain made changes as Dani Olmo and Pablo Fornals replaced Fermin Lopez and Pedri.
Serbia had a goal disallowed in the 50th minute when Veljko Birmancevic pushed Marc Cucurella before scoring. No VAR was in use.
Paunovic introduced Luka Jovic, Sasa Lukic, Lazar Samardzic, and Mijat Gacinovic on the hour mark.
Mikel Oyarzabal was substituted in the 62nd minute by debutant Victor Munoz.
Ten minutes later, Munoz scored on debut. Substitutes combined beautifully: Olmo slipped the ball to Ferran Torres, who backheeled it to the on-running Munoz. The 22-year-old Osasuna forward curled it with the outside of his right boot into the bottom left corner—a moment he will never forget.
Milinkovic-Savic made a world-class save to deny Dani Olmo a fourth, diving to tip the close-range effort over the bar—a save worthy of applause.
Spain’s next match is against Egypt on Tuesday evening, their final game before the World Cup opener against Cape Verde on June 15. Serbia face Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, March 31, in another friendly.
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