They said Spain’s group stage was unconvincing. They said the fire wasn’t there. They said the European champions looked mortal. Well, Austria showed up to SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Thursday night ready to prove those critics right — and Spain answered with the kind of football that makes you sit up, lean forward, and remember why La Roja are one of the most dangerous teams on the planet.
Final score: Spain 3–0 Austria. It wasn’t even close.
Spain extended their unbeaten streak to 34 games, and they did it in front of a pro-Spanish crowd of more than 70,000 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. The atmosphere was electric, the occasion was massive — and Spain rose to every single bit of it.
For Austria, this was their first World Cup knockout appearance since 1954 — 72 years of waiting for this moment. Sadly for them, the wait wasn’t worth it. They ran into a Spain side that was finally, completely, ruthlessly switched on.
The Goals That Told the Story
Marc Cucurella was the architect of everything, and it was his left-wing delivery in the 36th minute that unlocked Austria for the first time.
He found Mikel Oyarzabal near the penalty spot, and the Real Sociedad forward made it look easy — a soft, first-time redirect that was anything but easy. Spain was in front, and the tone was set.
Austria huffed and puffed in the second half. Substitute Sasa Kalajdzic nearly levelled things immediately after coming on, glancing a Sabitzer delivery agonisingly over the crossbar — the closest Austria would get to threatening Unai Simón all match.
Spain punished them immediately. Cucurella again started the move, feeding Álex Baena on the left, and the Villarreal man floated a cross to the top of the six-yard box for Pedro Porro — who arrived from deep and powered home his first ever international goal with a thumping header. 2–0. Game over.
Then, one minute from time, Oyarzabal twisted the knife. Cucurella delivered again from the left, and Oyarzabal slotted into the bottom-right corner to complete his brace and seal a stunning 3–0 victory.
The Man, The Myth, The Oyarzabal
Let’s talk about Mikel Oyarzabal, because this man is on fire. His brace brought his tournament tally to four goals, putting him just two behind Messi and Mbappé in the Golden Boot race, and his 29 total international goals now tie him with Fernando Hierro in sixth place on Spain’s all-time scorers list. He’s also producing these numbers at a historic pace — he became the first Spain player to score two goals in a World Cup knockout match since Emilio Butragueño against Denmark in 1986.
Lamine Yamal was named the match MVP, dazzling throughout and even seeing a goal-bound effort cleared off the line by David Alaba. The teenager is playing like a man possessed. ESPN
What’s Next?
Spain now advance to the Round of 16 in Dallas on Monday, where they will face the winner of Portugal. Spain’s coach Luis de la Fuente said it best: “The great teams step up when it’s needed. We came close to perfection.”
Close to perfection. On this evidence? They might just be the real thing.
Man of the Match: Lamine Yamal
