Ansu Fati made the most of his chance back with Spain's national team, scoring a goal and showing he is in great form in La Roja's 3-1 win over Jordan in a World Cup warmup on Thursday.
Fati teamed up well some of the other youngsters giving Spain hope of a successful campaign in Qatar, with Gavi Páez and Nico Williams also scoring a goal each in the team's final match before its World Cup opener against Costa Rica on Nov. 23.
Fati scored on a shot from inside the area in the 13th minute before Gavi doubled the lead from near the penalty spot in the 56th. Williams, who replaced Fati in the 72nd, made it 3-0 with a cross shot from inside the box in the 84th.
Hamza Al-Dardour scored for Jordan in second-half stoppage time in Amman.
Fati had not played for Spain since making his fourth appearance as a teenager in October 2020, shortly after breaking the record for Spain’s youngest scorer. He had not been called up by coach Luis Enrique in the last international break before the World Cup, when the 20-year-old forward was not playing often with Barcelona.
He is one of the many youngsters selected by Luis Enrique to Spain’s revamped squad, along with 19-year-old Pedri González, 20-year-old Williams, and 18-year-old Gavi, who had broken Fati’s record by scoring his first goal for Spain at the age of 17 years, 304 days.
After the Group E opener against Costa Rica, Spain faces Germany in one of the most-anticipated matches of the tournament and then takes on Japan.
Spain coach Luis Enrique couldn’t count on José Luis Gayà because of a right ankle injury sustained in Wednesday’s training session. Also not available for Thursday’s match were Álvaro Morata, Hugo Guillamón and Marcos Llorente, who had not been fully fit and missed practice at the start of Spain’s preparations.
Portugal later Thursday takes on Nigeria without Cristiano Ronaldo. The all-time scoring leader in men's international soccer with 117 goals is nursing a stomach bug that made him miss training on Wednesday.
OTHER WARMUPS
Ghana, back at the World Cup after missing out at the tournament in Russia, defeated Switzerland 2-0 in Abu Dhabi with second-half goals by Mohammed Salisu and Antoine Semenyo.
Ghana is in Group H with Portugal, South Korea and Uruguay. Its opener is against Portugal on Nov. 24.
Switzerland, playing in its fifth straight World Cup, debuts in Group G against Cameroon on Nov. 24, then faces Brazil and Serbia.
Canada, back in the World Cup after 36 years, came from behind to defeat Japan 2-1 in Dubai with Lucas Cavallini scoring the winner by converting a penalty kick deep into second-half stoppage time.
Japan had opened the scoring with Yuki Soma less than 10 minutes into the match. Steven Vitoria equalized in the 21st for Canada, which is in Group F with Belgium, Croatia and Morocco. It debuts against Belgium on Nov. 23. Japan opens against Germany in Group E before facing Costa Rica and Spain.
Costa Rica’s warmup against Iraq was canceled because of a dispute with Iraq officials related to the entrance of Costa Rican players into the country.
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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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