Spain preserved their 100% record in the 2026-27 Nations League with a 3-1 win over Czechia, whose captain Ladislav Krejci was sent off five minutes from time.
The world champions were made to work much harder than England, who beat Croatia 7-0 in the other Group A3 match, after Spain manager Luis de la Fuente made nine changes to his starting XI in Oviedo.
Lamine Yamal gave Spain an early lead before a second goal involving Rodri and Dani Olmo put the hosts in control. Jiri Slama pulled one back for Czechia, but Krejci’s dismissal ended their hopes of completing a comeback before Mikel Merino sealed Spain’s victory in the closing stages.
Yamal opened the scoring after only six minutes. He exchanged passes with Dani Olmo before creating space near the right-hand corner of the penalty area and curling an excellent finish beyond Antonin Kinsky.
Spain controlled possession but struggled to create further openings until shortly after the half-hour mark, when Kinsky reacted sharply to keep out an effort from Olmo.
The Czechia goalkeeper was beaten again in the 35th minute. Rodri played the ball towards Olmo as the Barcelona midfielder continued his run into the area, and he finished calmly after a deflection sent the ball into his path.
Alex Baena also tested Kinsky before half-time, but Spain lost some of their attacking threat when De la Fuente replaced Yamal at the interval.
Czechia, managed by Spaniard Santi Denia, took advantage. Adam Hlozek released Slama, who finished accurately across David Raya to reduce the deficit.
The visitors appeared to have levelled in the 79th minute when Raya dropped a looping header from Krejci and Ryan Naderi forced the ball over the line. However, Lukas Cerv was penalised for holding Robin Le Normand as the original cross entered the area.
Krejci was booked for his reaction, having confronted referee Vassilios Fotias, and his frustration soon proved costly. The Wolves defender pulled back Roberto Fernandez to stop a counter-attack and received a second yellow card.
Victor Munoz narrowly missed the chance to restore Spain’s two-goal advantage, but Merino completed the scoring in the 89th minute. Munoz kept the move alive after Stepan Chaloupek made a poor challenge on Fernandez, and after Kinsky saved his shot, Merino followed up into an unguarded net.
Spain had 69% possession, produced 18 shots to Czechia’s five and recorded 1.99 expected goals to the visitors’ 0.49. Despite those figures, the match was far from comfortable after Slama’s goal.
The victory extended Spain’s unbeaten run to 41 matches and left them on the brink of reaching the quarter-finals. Yamal has now scored 12 goals in his past nine games for club and country, including four for Spain in the Nations League and eight for Barcelona in all competitions. His only failure to score in that sequence came in Barcelona’s 3-1 LaLiga victory over Sevilla.
Rodri and Olmo were the only players retained from Spain’s starting line-up when they last met Czechia in the Nations League in June 2022.
