Lamine Yamal scores 10 minutes into his first World Cup start and gives Spain liftoff

ATLANTA (AP) — Welcome to the World Cup, Lamine Yamal. Welcome to the World Cup, Spain.

Teenage superstar Yamal scored 10 minutes into his first start on soccer’s biggest stage and Spain kickstarted its campaign with the 4-0 demolition of Saudi Arabia in Atlanta on Sunday.

The 18-year-old forward slid in at the far post to touch home a low cross for the opening goal and became the eighth-youngest scorer in World Cup history. More importantly, he settled Spanish nerves after the European champion was held to a surprise 0-0 draw by Cape Verde in its opening game.

“The first game wasn’t really us, it was different, but now we’ve arrived and we’re going for more," Yamal said.

In a tournament that has already seen Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Harry Kane get off to flying starts, Yamal's strike saw him join the party.

“I’ve always dreamed of being at a World Cup, and being able to score in my first match as a starter is a dream,” he said. “I watched the last World Cup from a classroom so being able to score here with my mum and my family in the stands is a dream come true.”

The Barcelona winger is already considered one the world’s top players and helped Spain win the European Championship in 2024 despite being just 16 years old when the tournament started. He is tipped to take over from Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the sport’s biggest star but came into the World Cup with questions over his fitness after he missed the end of the season with a hamstring injury.

Yamal, who was only used as a second-half substitute against Cape Verde, was thrown in from the start against Saudi Arabia and wasted no time in making his presence felt.

He had already repeatedly sliced through the Saudi defense before turning home Mikel Oyarzabal's cross.

A full house at Atlanta Stadium that was mainly filled with Spain fans erupted in celebration just at the sight of Yamal emerging for the pre-game warm up. And the cheers were even louder as he raced away to celebrate his goal, dropping to his knees, praying and kissing the turf.

It was just the impact Spain coach Luis de la Fuente wanted from his star player, having been inundated with questions about when Yamal would be ready to start.

Those questions felt even more anxious after Spain, one of the pre-tournament favorites, was shut out by Cape Verde.

After all, Spain has failed to advance beyond the round of 16 since lifting the World Cup in 2010, winning just three games during that run.

But Yamal's opener sparked a flurry of first-half goals. Oyarzabal, who was criticized for not touching the ball at all in the first 30 minutes against Cape Verde, not only provided the assist for Yamal, but scored two more with close range strikes in the 21st and 24th.

So dominant was Spain's lead that De la Fuente had seen enough and took both his scorers off at halftime.

Inside four minutes of the second half, the lead was extended when Marc Cucurella's shot rebounded off Hassan Altambakti for an own goal.

James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson

AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup

Spain's Lamine Yamal celebrates after scoring his side's opening goal during the World Cup Group H soccer match between Spain and Saudi Arabia in Atlanta, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Erik S.Lesser)

Spain's Lamine Yamal celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the World Cup Group H soccer match between Spain and Saudi Arabia in Atlanta, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Spain's Lamine Yamal celebrates after scoring the opening goal against Saudi Arabia during the World Cup Group H soccer match in Atlanta, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Spain's Lamine Yamal celebrates after scoring his side's opening goal during the World Cup Group H soccer match between Spain and Saudi Arabia in Atlanta, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Erik S.Lesser)

Spain's Lamine Yamal celebrates after scoring his side's opening goal during the World Cup Group H soccer match between Spain and Saudi Arabia in Atlanta, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Erik S.Lesser)

OBBUERGEN, Switzerland (AP) — U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Sunday there was an opportunity to “turn over a new leaf” with Iran as the sides held talks aimed at building out the interim deal to end the war in Iran reached by the two sides last week.

But even as Vance called on Tehran to build on the moment, President Donald Trump threatened to restart strikes on Iran for its support of Hezbollah militants in Lebanon or if it moved to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

“Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble,” Trump said on social media, one of multiple provocative warnings to Iran on Sunday. “If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!”

Vance and U.S. negotiators met with Iran's parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi at a Swiss mountainside resort near Lake Lucerne. Mediators from Pakistan and Qatar were also present for the direct engagement that, according to Iranian state media, lasted about 80 minutes. The U.S. and Iranian negotiating teams also held separate private talks with Pakistani and Qatari officials.

The U.S. is looking to get Iran locked into negotiations over its nuclear program amid concerns it may be used for military purposes, which Iran denies. Vance also is pushing Tehran to commit to keeping open the Strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway through which about a fifth of world traded oil passes.

But Trump's comments from afar—he spent much of the weekend at the presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland— appeared to threaten to derail the negotiations.

“They would do better to be careful about their statements," Qalibaf posted on X. "Our armed forces are prepared to respond to them in a different manner. They may keep talking, it is we who act.”

Iranian state media said the talks had entered a “difficult phase” and recessed after the “publication of an insulting message by the U.S. President.” The Iranian delegation then met with Qatari mediators and left the negotiating site, state media said.

Despite the heated social media exchanges, an official with knowledge of the talks later told the AP the Iranian delegation remained engaged in the talks and has not indicated to mediators any intention to leave. The official requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the talks.

The interim agreement was signed last week, and top American and Iranian negotiators are in a 60-day sprint to reach an agreement on the technical details that hold massive implications for the world economy and global security.

The on-again, off-again conflict in Lebanon between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants continues to threaten to derail the effort for the U.S. to win concessions from Tehran on its nuclear program and keep the strait open.

“The question before us now is how much more can we accomplish together? Can we turn over a new leaf?” Vance said as the talks, dubbed the “Lake Lucerne Summit,” got underway.

“Can we change relations in the Middle East permanently, or do we go back to doing things the old way, which is not our preference, but is certainly very much something that can happen.”

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told the country's state news agency that their team's negotiations looked to focus on the war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Only days after signing the agreement, it was stress-tested after fighting escalated in Lebanon between Israel and the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah — and by the subsequent announcement by Iran’s military that it had again closed the vital waterway. Still, a renewed ceasefire in Lebanon, brokered on Saturday, appeared to be holding.

The agreement signed by Trump and Iranian President Pezeshkian immediately allows Tehran to sell its oil freely and paves the way for Iran to tap into billions of dollars in assets that are currently frozen. It also calls for Iran to dilute its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, believed to be buried under nuclear sites that were targeted in U.S. strikes last summer.

Pezeshkian, however, has insisted on Iran maintaining its right to enrich uranium.

He repeated that stance on Sunday. “What is certain is that we will never back down from the right to enrich uranium, and the other side is also forced to accept it,” Pezeshkian said, according to Iran’s state media.

Trump, in a telephone interview Sunday with Fox News, warned that the Iranian president should watch what he says and threatened to take over the rest of the country, in comments relayed by a Fox correspondent.

Iran had cautiously approached the talks given its previous experience with U.S. negotiations on the nuclear issue, which twice in the past year were interrupted by massive military strikes against the country. “The implementation of any document is more important than its signing,” Baghaei said Sunday.

Vance had originally been slated to be on the ground at the Bürgenstock resort near Lucerne on Friday, but his departure from the United States was delayed after fighting escalated in Lebanon and Iranian officials canceled plans to attend the talks.

U.S. Central Command disputed Iran’s claim that it had once again shuttered the strait and said U.S. forces continued to monitor the situation to ensure traffic continues to flow through the waterway. Vance has said that millions of barrels of oil have moved through the strait in recent days.

The vice president was joined by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, for Sunday's talks. Witkoff and Kushner were on the ground in Switzerland ahead of Vance to discuss technical details of the nuclear talks.

Vance said he planned to be in Switzerland for just “a day or two,” leaving much of the detailed negotiations to be spearheaded by Witkoff and Kushner. His role in the talks has heightened scrutiny of the vice president at a time when he’s actively considering a 2028 presidential campaign.

Trump and Vance have come under searing criticism from parts of their own party for the deal, with Republican hard-liners unfavorably likening it to a nuclear agreement signed by the Obama administration that Trump and the GOP have insisted did nothing to actually terminate Iran’s nuclear program.

The agreement says commercial vessels can pass through the Strait of Hormuz for 60 days without charge, but does not preclude future fees imposed by Iran. Trump made his own threat Saturday to levy U.S. tolls if there is no deal with Iran in 60 days, insisting in a social media post that the money would be for “services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East.”

The Trump administration has been working to reassure global markets that the Iran war has been merely a blip on oil prices, as Americans complain the conflict resulted in hiking gasoline prices ahead of peak summer travel. After the White House announced the deal a week ago, oil futures dropped almost 8% — and markets are expected to closely track the progress of talks when they open for trading Sunday evening.

Further complicating matters, neither Israel nor Hezbollah is a signatory to the deal between the U.S. and Iran, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep his forces in southern Lebanon until any threat to Israel is eliminated. Hezbollah has refused to halt its attacks unless Israel commits to withdrawing from Lebanon.

Kim reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, and Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.

A sign for the Lake Lucerne Summit at the Bürgenstock during a meeting between U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for high-level talks aimed at advancing a deal to end the Middle East conflict, in Obbuergen, Switzerland, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. Vice President JD Vance waits to meet with Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during high-level talks aimed at advancing a deal to end the Middle East conflict, at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, Switzerland, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. Vice President JD Vance, left, reacts next to U.S. President Donald Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff, second right, and Jared Kushner, right, while waiting to meet with Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for high-level talks aimed at advancing a deal to end the Middle East conflict, at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. Vice President JD Vance, left, reacts next to U.S. President Donald Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff, second right, and Jared Kushner, right, while waiting to meet with Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for high-level talks aimed at advancing a deal to end the Middle East conflict, at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, and Switzerland's Foreign Minister Federal councillor Ignazio Cassis, right, shake hands at bilateral discussions at the Buergenstock resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, Switzerland, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Urs Flueeler/Keystone via AP)

A Swiss Army Helicopter flies around the Buergenstock resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, Switzerland, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Urs Flueeler/Keystone Pool via AP)

U.S. Vice President JD Vance, right, meets with Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, during high-level talks aimed at advancing a deal to end the Middle East conflict, at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)

A convoy with U.S. Vice President JD Vance arrives at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Urs Flueeler/Keystone, Pool Photo via AP)

A convoy with U.S. Vice President JD Vance arrives at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Urs Flueeler/Keystone, Pool Photo via AP)

A convoy with U.S. Vice President JD Vance arrives at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Urs Flueeler/Keystone, Pool Photo via AP)

A convoy with U.S. Vice President JD Vance arrives at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Urs Flueeler/Keystone, Pool Photo via AP)

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi, center, arrives at the Buergenstock resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, Switzerland, early Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Urs Flueeler/Keystone, Pool via AP)

Air Force Two, with Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance on board, departs Joint Base Andrews, Md., Saturday, June 20, 2026, en route to Switzerland. (Elizabeth Frantz/Pool Photo via AP)

Vice President JD Vance speaks to reporters at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Saturday, June 20, 2026, en route to Switzerland. (Elizabeth Frantz/Pool Photo via AP)