Spain beat Serbia 3-0 to clinch spot in Nations League knockouts

CORDOBA, Spain : European champions Spain claimed a place in the Nations League quarter-finals with a 3-0 home win over Serbia on Tuesday thanks to goals by Aymeric Laporte, Alvaro Morata and Alex Baena.

With two games left, Spain have secured at least a second-place finish as they top League A Group One with 10 points, three ahead of Denmark and six clear of Serbia, with Switzerland bottom on one point after a 2-2 home draw with the Danes.

Spain were missing several players from the team that beat England 2-1 in the Euro 2024 final in July but still outclassed Serbia with 30 shots against three from the visitors.

Defender Laporte gave the Spaniards the lead with a close-range header in the fifth minute and Morata, who missed a penalty in the 54th, extended Spain's lead with a strike from just inside the box after 65 minutes.

Serbia's Strahinja Pavlovic was shown a straight red card for a last-man foul on Mikel Oyarzabal on the edge of the area in the 78th and Baena curled the free kick into the top corner to wrap up an easy victory for Spain.