Mikel Oyarzabal's 2 goals send
dominant Spain past Austria 3-0 and into round of 16 at the World Cup
[July 03, 2026]
By GREG BEACHAM
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Although Spain arrived at this year's World
Cup as a championship favorite and then went unbeaten through group
play, those first three matches weren't overly impressive.
When the knockout rounds finally arrived Thursday, this star-studded
team turned on its full talent and served notice that Spain can be
just as good as everybody thought — and it's probably getting
better.
Mikel Oyarzabal scored two goals and Spain beat Austria 3-0 for its
first World Cup victory in a knockout match since winning the title
in 2010.
Pedro Porro added a goal in the second half as La Roja put on its
most impressive performance of the tournament while demonstrating
offensive creativity and defensive rigor throughout its vaunted
lineup.
“The great teams step up when it’s needed,” Spain coach Luis De La
Fuente said. “We played a great match. We came close to perfection,
but we must keep improving.”
While Oyarzabal, fullback Marc Cucurella and winger Lamine Yamal all
had sensational moments in attack, Spain also has yet to allow a
goal at this year's World Cup. Austria failed to get a shot on
target, so Unai Simón didn't have to make a save while keeping his
fourth consecutive clean sheet and setting a World Cup record with
519 consecutive shutout minutes dating back to the last tournament
in Qatar.
Everybody in a red shirt was happy after a dominant day in the Los
Angeles area — but nobody was satisfied, either.
“I’m happy to have helped the team for us to go through another
round,” Oyarzabal said. “Now just rest and get ready for the next
one. It was a complicated match. We knew that it was going to be
difficult against a very physical team, but we had a very good day
and played a good match.”
La Roja will next face Portugal, a 2-1 winner over Croatia, in
Dallas on Monday in the round of 16.
Yamal had four of Spain’s 10 shots on goal while getting wild cheers
from the pro-Spanish sellout crowd at SoFi Stadium. The 18-year-old
Barcelona sensation played his longest stretch of the tournament
before coming off in the 85th minute, moments after Austria defender
David Alaba deflected Yamal’s hard shot off the goal line.
Spain got its marquee offense from Oyarzabal, the Real Sociedad
captain who has four goals at this year's World Cup by opening the
scoring in the 36th minute and clinching the victory in the 89th.
Cucurella had assists on both of Oyarzabal's goals, demonstrating an
excellent connection from the left side.
“Our only focus is to remain thinking that we need to exceed our own
expectations,” De La Fuente said. “Today’s match is just the prelude
to what’s next, because in the next match we will try to play even
better. We have wonderful players. Their behavior, their attitude,
their talent is insurmountable.”
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Spain's Mikel Oyarzabal (21) celebrates after scoring his side's
opening goal during the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between
Spain and Austria in Inglewood, Calif., near Los Angeles, Thursday,
July 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Goalkeeper Alexander Schlager made six saves in an
outstanding performance for Austria, which reached the knockout
rounds of its first World Cup since 1998 by squeaking out a late
draw with an injury-time goal against Algeria. Coach Ralf Rangnick’s
team hasn’t won a knockout match at the World Cup since 1954.
“I cannot remember any unforced error they made,” Rangnick said of
Spain. “I think they showed us their best performance. I would dare
to say we did not only meet the European champion, but possibly the
next world champion. If you want to win it, you need to win against
Spain. But if we had a lucky punch, we could have had a chance.”
Spain is firmly back in World Cup contention for the first time
since winning it all in South Africa 16 years ago. La Roja lost two
knockout matches and got eliminated in the group stage over the past
three World Cups.
But Spain is now unbeaten 35 straight competitive matches since
March 2023. La Roja won the 2023 Nations League and the 2024
European Championship in that stretch, but also lost the 2025
Nations League final on penalties to Portugal.
Following a cautious start against Austria, Spain unleashed its full
attack after the first-half hydration break. Three minutes after
Schlager made a diving fingertip save on Oyarzabal’s low shot, the
Spain player came unmarked in the penalty area and coolly converted
Cucurella's pass.
Spain kept up its pressure after halftime, playing some of its most
creative soccer of the tournament. It was rewarded when Álex Baena
broke in on the left side and lifted a pass to an unmarked Porro,
who banged home an emphatic header for his first international goal.
“People have their opinions, (but) we’ve been doing our job since
Day 1," Porro said. "We believe in ourselves, and whatever people on
the outside say is fair enough.”
Oyarzabal wrapped it up by converting another sharp pass from
Cucurella.
Simón has only had to make four saves in his four straight shutouts.
His World Cup shutout streak of 519 minutes broke the tournament
record set by Italy great Walter Zenga at the 1990 World Cup in
Italy.
Marko Arnautović came on as a second-half substitute for Austria.
Rangnick said afterward that the 37-year-old striker had played his
final international match.
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