Lamine Yamal did not wait long to make his mark on his first World Cup start.The 18-year-old Barcelona attacker sparked a riotous performance from Spain against Saudi Arabia, scoring after 10 minutes of his first start at the tournament to set his team on their way to a 4-0 victory which all but confirmed their place in the last 32.It was the perfect antidote for Spain, whose status as pre-tournament favourites had been dented by the 0-0 draw with Cape Verde in their first game. But Yamal was only able to make a cameo appearance in that match as he recovered from injury: he was fit to start here, and it transformed his team.The Athletic examines the major talking points from Atlanta.How good was Yamal on his first World Cup start?Lamine Yamal’s preparations for his World Cup were far from ideal. He was fighting to return to full fitness after suffering a hamstring injury in April, and was unable to contribute properly during just 19 minutes of action in that shock draw with Cape Verde. Meanwhile, fellow superstars Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr were all getting off to flying starts.There was no doubt that Yamal was going to start today, despite not being 100 per cent, and he was by far the most active Spain player in a frenetic opening.There was a deep cross to Alex Baena which caused problems for the Saudi defence, an ambitious long range shot which flew just too high and a corner which picked out an unmarked Dani Olmo, only for his Barca teammate to miscue his shot.A goal was coming, and it arrived on 10 minutes with Baena freeing Mikel Oyarzabal down the left wing, and his hammered cross to the back post arrived perfectly for an unmarked Yamal to slide in.U.S. readers watch here: