Spain showed no mercy as they beat Costa Rica 7-0 to seal their biggest World Cup win ever.
Dani Olmo gave La Furia Roja an early lead inside 10 minutes as he latched onto Gavi's deflected pass and finished expertly past Keylor Navas.
Ten minutes later and their lead was doubled through a cool Marco Asensio finish from the edge of the box after Jordi Alba's cross.
Spain had three just after the half hour mark through Ferran Torres' penalty after Alba was tripped in the box.
Torres had his brace early in the second period and Gavi added a fifth with a sweet strike for his first major tournament goal.
Substitutes Carlos Soler and Alvaro Morata added two more in added time to seal a comprehensive first matchday victory.
Here are four things we learnt from the game.
-
Spain have the credentials to go far
Luis Enrique's side were no doubt met with sub-par opposition at the Al Thumama Stadium, but to their credit they did not allow Costa Rica any chance to gain a foothold in a game that they will have wanted to cause an upset in.
The Spaniards were halted at the semi-finals of Euro 2020, despite taking the lead in that game and looking good value to reach the final until Italy fought back.
They have the fourth-youngest average squad age at this tournament, and that Euro squad has been largely retained meaning they are another year older and more experienced this time around.
That improvement showed in this opening encounter as they were a world apart from their opponents and looked a side ready to stay in Qatar for an extended period of time, with camp camaraderie only set to improve following this huge win.
Failures of 2014 and 2018 are still fresh in the mind of La Roja supporters, but such a dominant win will give them confidence that this time around will be different.
-
Torres is the key
With Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola happy to let Torres leave the Citizens in January 2022, many could be forgiven for somewhat doubting the young winger's talents on the big stage.
After a slow start to life in Barcelona and no goals in his last eight Spain apperances, his brilliant performance in this game could set the tone for a coming-of-age tournament as Luis Enrique continues to search for a reliable talisman.
His bags of energy and razor-sharp movement were too much to cope with for the Costa Rica defence, and after slotting home a first-half penalty he got a deserved open-play goal in the second period as he deceived Navas and his defenders to slot home for 4-0.
His starting spot will now no doubt be nailed down for the rest of the group stage, and he has all the tools to unlock the key to success under his father-in-law Enrique.
-
The Barca three
A midfield three of Sergio Busquets, Pedri and Gavi is brimming with quality and as good a trio as any at the 2022 World Cup.
Busquets is 15 and 16 years older than his compatriots and is as good a mentor as any in football after helping his country win the 2010 World Cup and 2012 European Championships as well as winning a plethora of top club trophies with Barcelona.
Pedri (19) and Gavi (18) are both playing alongside the 34-year-old at club level as well as international, with all three ebbing on the same wavelength against lacklustre opposition today.
2022 Golden Boy Gavi displayed a moment of sheer class to score his first major tournament goal as he cut across the ball on the volley from the edge of the box to make it 5-0 as time ticked on.
He will only get better as the tournament progresses after becoming the youngest World Cup goalscorer since Pele in 1958.
The three in the centre ended the match with pass accuracies of 90%, 91% and 97%, with Spain having 82% possession of the ball overall.
-
Costa Rica must avoid a 2018 repeat
Despite conceding just six goals in their last 12 outings, Los Ticos gave themselves a serious hill to climb within the first half hour as Spain raced into a 3-0 lead.
It was all too easy for Luis Enrique's side as they ghosted past their opponents' defenders with the marking and tracking leaving a lot to be desired.
Oscar Duarte even gave the Spaniards a helping hand by lunging into Jordi Alba to concede a needless penalty.
Things only got worse as their defence capitulated late on to concede four second-half goals.
It is the first time in 34 years that a team has not had a shot on target in a World Cup game, a damning indictment of their lack of any creative or inventive play in the final third.
Luis Suarez's men cannot afford to take this attitude into their next game with Japan, after they seized a shock 2-1 win over Germany and looked a very tidy outfit.
Produce a similar display and the Costa Ricans will likely head into their final group game against Germany with zero points and no chance of progression, a similar outcome to 2018 where they came away with one point and scored just two goals.
