Along with France, Spain was one of the big favourites for the gold medal at the World Cup in North America. But while “Les Bleus” impressed in the group stage, Spain was stunned by the island nation of Cape Verde. The win was followed by two straight victories, but without convincing.
However, in the round of 32 at Los Angeles Stadium in Inglewood, Spain showed the pace that gave them European Championship gold in 2024. Austria was eliminated 3–0.
The big teams step up when it matters. We are playing a fantastic game and are close to perfection, but we have to continue to improve, says Spain's national team captain Luis de la Fuente.
Swedish referee in focus
Star Lamine Yamal was in the mood to play, Real Madrid's new signing Marc Cucurella showed his pace on the wing and played his way to Oyarzabal's third goal of the championship when he scored 1-0 in the 36th minute.
But the aforementioned full-back wasn't always happy. Cucurella thought he had scored 1–0 after 26 minutes, but Glenn Nyberg ruled the goal out. The Swedish referee said the Spaniards had been too rough on Austria's goalkeeper Alexander Schlager, who had gone down after an aerial duel.
“Really good day”
The Spanish dominance continued in the second half. First, Pedro Porro headed in 2–0 in the 66th minute, before Cucurella again played through to Oyarzabal, who made it 3–0 in the 89th.
The victory is the national team's first in a knockout match in a World Cup since the final against the Netherlands in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2010, when Spain won gold.
"I'm happy to have helped the team advance to the next round. We knew it would be difficult against a very physical team, but we had a really good day and played a good match," says match hero Oyarzabal.
Spain now faces the winner between Portugal and Croatia in the round of 16 in Arlington, Texas, on Monday.
