2026 World Cup: A Walk in the Park for Spain—3-0 Win Over Austria Seals Spot in the Round of 16
Spain is the 11th team, chronologically, to advance to the round of 16 at the 2026 World Cup. La Roja prevailed in its 16th match, played at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on Thursday evening (Italian time), against an Austrian team that was never really able to throw a wrench in Spain’s plans and that ends its World Cup campaign with just one victory—a 3-1 win over Jordan in its opener—followed by a 0-2 loss to Argentina and a 3-3 draw with Algeria, prior to today’s result.
Right from the opening minutes, the team coached by Luis de la Fuente imposed a style of play characterized by complex moves, frequent shifts in direction, and overlapping runs. Austria responded with a compact formation and a few counterattacks capitalizing on the rare misplaced passes by Rodri and his teammates. The first goal came in the 29th minute but was disallowed: Cucurella scored off a corner kick, but referee Nyberg ruled it out, deeming the contact between Cubarsí and goalkeeper Alexander Schlager to be a foul prior to the Real Madrid winger’s shot.
The Red Fury didn’t have to wait long, however, to take the lead: in the 36th minute, Cucurella turned provider, setting up Oyarzabal in the box, who made no mistake with his left foot to make it 1-0. Before halftime, there was also a great chance to double the lead, but Baena’s free kick in the 42nd minute hit the crossbar with the goalkeeper beaten.
Early in the second half, Austrian coach Rangnick tried to shake things up: Chukwuemeka and Grillitsch came on for Seiwald and Xaver Schlager after the break, while Arnautovic and Kalajdzic entered the game in the 60th minute, replacing Gregoritsch and Schmid. The pattern of the match remained unchanged, and in the 66th minute, the score became 2-0: Spain maintained prolonged possession, playing the ball out to the left to Baena, whose sharp cross found Pedro Porro for the winning header, doubling the lead.
The final stages were once again all Spain: La Roja nearly scored a third goal in the 85th minute with a sure-fire shot by Lamine Yamal, stopped right on the goal line by Alaba, and sealed the victory in the 89th minute once again with Oyarzabal, who scored his second goal of the match by capitalizing on a splendid through ball from Cucurella.
