Spain 3-0 Norway: Player Ratings as Joselu makes perfect La Roja debut

Spain started their qualifying campaign for Euro 2024 with an easy win.

Spain defeated Norway 3-0 in their Euro 2024 qualifier on Saturday. Norway had no chance of stopping Spain in the absence of Erling Haaland.

A winning start for De La Fuente!

Luis de la Fuente replaced Luis Enrique as Spain’s manager after the World Cup.

The new La Roja manager made a few unexpected choices in his first Spain call-up. But his plans paid off perfectly at Rosaleda Stadium.

A brilliant start to the game saw Spain open the scoring in the 13th minute. Following an assist from Alejandro Balde, Dani Olmo clipped the ball into the back of the net with a precise touch to put La Roja ahead.

The pace of the game dropped significantly after Olmo’s opener, but La Roja intensified their efforts to extend their lead as soon as the second half started.

Norway managed to keep their opponents at bay for most of the second period. But Joselu finally scored Spain’s second goal in the 84th minute.

The Espanyol striker converted Fabian Ruiz’s precise assist to score in his debut game for La Roja. Only a minute later, the 32-year-old completed his perfect display, scoring Spain’s third goal of the night.

La Roja will continue their qualifying campaign with a match against Scotland on Tuesday.

Player Ratings

Spain: Kepa (7); Carvajal (7), Nacho (8), Laporte (7), Balde (7); Merino (6), Rodri (7), Gavi (6); Olmo (7), Aspas (6), Morata (6).

Bench: Ceballos (7), Pino (6), Ruiz (7), Joselu (9), Oyarzabal (6).

Norway: Nyland (6); Pedersen (6), Strandberg (6), Ostigard (6), Meling (5); Berg (7), Aursnes (5), Odegaard (6); Berge (7), Sorloth (6), Elyounoussi (5).

Bench: Bjorkan (4), Ryerson (5), Solbakken (5), Brynhildsen (6), Larsen (5).