It represented the 2024 Men’s Ballon d’Or nominee’s first outing since La Roja’s European Championship final victory over England in July.
The classy midfielder then played 58 minutes at Stade de Geneve as goals from Joselu, Fabian Ruiz (two) and Ferran Torres secured the success for Luis de la Fuente’s side with Akanji also featuring for the full 90.
Spain made the perfect start inside four minutes when Joselu swept Lamine Yamal’s cross home from close range.
However, their lead didn’t appear to last long when Becir Omeragic fired into the net from inside the box before the Swiss celebrations were cut short after a handball was spotted in the build-up via VAR.
La Roja then doubled their advantage when Fabian Ruiz reacted quickly inside the area to meet Nico Williams’ rebounded effort to tuck into the net.
In a breathless first half, Robin Le Normand was then sent off on 21 minutes after being shown a straight red card following a challenge on Breel Embolo.
Spain’s lead was then halved on the cusp of half-time when Zeki Amdouni reduced the deficit.
Although the hosts pushed for an equaliser after the interval, Rodrigo‘s nation restored their two-goal lead with just over 10 minutes remaining when Ruiz produced superb footwork in the box to create space and fizz the ball into the bottom corner.
Former City man Ferran Torres added the gloss to the result when bagging Spain’s fourth.
Meanwhile, Mateo Kovacic and Josko Gvardiol started for Croatia in their 1-0 success over Poland.
After a goalless first half, Luka Modric gave the hosts the lead shortly after the break which represented the game’s only goal.
Elsewhere, Ruben Dias and Bernardo Silva played the full 90 minutes as Portugal fought from a goal down to beat Scotland 2-1 at Estadio da Luz.
Napoli’s Scott McTominay gave the visitors the lead in the seventh minute with a well-timed header which flew into the far-left corner.
Steve Clarke’s side held their lead heading into the interval, but Portugal equalised 10 minutes after the restart when Bruno Fernandes drilled an effort from the edge of the box into the bottom corner.
Despite heroic Scotland defending, Roberto Martinez’s side remained at Group A1’s summit after back-to-back wins when Cristiano Ronaldo met a pinpoint cross to give Portugal the lead with two minutes remaining.
