Could Spain's unlikely frontline fire La Roja to World Cup glory?

Spain got their World Cup campaign off to the best possible start on Wednesday as they recorded their biggest ever World Cup win, beating Costa Rica 7-0 without conceding a shot, and completing a total of 976 passes throughout the game.  

With a win this dominant, it is understandable why there were so many talking points from the game, including of course 18-year-old midfielder Gavi becoming the third youngest goalscorer in World Cup history. But something that also needs to be underlined is five of their goals came from attackers. 

Now although that might sound obvious for the attacking players to get the bulk of the goals for a team, it isn’t so much when you look deeper at the players who scored them, none of whom have exactly hit the heights this season. 

Alvaro Morata, who came off the bench to score Spain’s final goal of the game against Costa Rica, has never really been able to find form in his club football career. Premier League fans will remember his questionable time with Chelsea of course, but in recent years he has been playing his football with Atletico Madrid, where his most prolific season saw him score 12 in 34 appearances. Despite playing with some of Europe’s most prestigious sides, Morata has never been able to replicate his form from Real Madrid in 2016/17. Even this season has started on a slow note for him, with only five goals in 14 appearances, two of which came in the opening game against Getafe. 

For the three starters, it makes for similar reading. Ferran Torres scored two goals in just under an hour against Costa Rica, matching his return in 567 minutes of La Liga action with Barcelona this season. Dani Olmo has only hit the net once in the Bundesliga in 2022/23, though has been hit by injury, while for Marco Asensio, minutes have been hard to come by, which has seen him score just the one league goal for Real Madrid. 

With these stats in mind, it can be understandable why many would be shocked to see the four attackers look so effective, and though Morata and Torres’ returns for their national team makes for decent reading, form can play a massive part in confidence levels going into a World Cup, especially for strikers. 

This result will also feel a bit of a shock when considering that in Spain’s eight World Cup qualifying matches, they scored a total of 15 goals, which although was enough to see them top the group, it isn’t the best return when you consider the strength of the opposition they were up against, with nearly half (6) of their goals coming against Georgia, and also meant they could only manage an average of 1.88 goals per game.  

This lack of efficiency in front of goal has meant that in recent years, La Roja have often been undervalued when it comes to winning tournaments. 

Since the likes of David Villa and Fernando Torres retired from international football, their presence has always been missed, often leaving Spain one jigsaw piece away from going all the way in tournaments. Villa was the joint-top scorer at the 2010 World Cup and overall top scorer at Euro 2008, while Torres was the joint-top scorer at Euro 2012. All three tournaments were won by Spain during a devastatingly dominant spell. 

In recent years, Spain were knocked out of the 2018 World Cup on penalties in the last-16 and finished third at Euro 2020. Despite finishing third last year, it has felt as though Spain haven’t been feared like they were between 2008 and 2012 and though they have always had technical quality, those players instructed to score have never quite emulated the impact of Torres and Villa. 

This year’s World Cup yet again features an abundance of creative players throughout the team, including the likes of teenage pair Gavi and Pedri, among others, but again many have doubted their squad’s overall chances of winning altogether, pickings the likes of Brazil, Argentina, France and even England ahead of them, who without a doubt have those reliable front men. 

However, if Spain’s frontline are able to perform consistently throughout this tournament, with the level of finishing that saw them score seven of their eight shots of target against Costa Rica, then there is no reason why they can’t go all the way at this World Cup. The overall level of performance throughout the team in that game would make it hard for anyone to defend against, with swift passing and quick transitions, and the creation levels in the team, which saw them create 12 goalscoring chances. 

The one thing that has to be noted is that it was of course only Costa Rica, a team arguably nowhere near the quality they were when they topped their group at the 2014 World Cup, ahead of Uruguay, Italy and England. You can only beat what is put in front of you, and as we’ve seen already at this World Cup, being favourites in a game doesn’t always guarantee a win... just ask Argentina and Germany. 

Spain could have just about scrapped a 1-0 victory and nothing would be said about it, but they went for the jugular to record the joint fourth highest win in World Cup history and make a statement to the other 31 teams on matchday one. If their forward line can keep their shooting boots intact, then they could make an even bigger statement in next month's final.