The full-time whistle sounds at Los Angeles Stadium as Spain defeat Austria 3-0 to progress to the last 16 of the World Cup! After Oyarzabal saw his 33rd-minute effort pushed past the right-hand post by Schlager, the Austria goalkeeper could not do anything about the Real Sociedad striker’s finish three minutes later. It all came from Cucurella’s left-wing centre, with Oyarzabal prodding home from close range. The European champions should have doubled their lead in first-half stoppage time with Baena rattling the woodwork with a 25-yard free-kick before Schlager brilliantly denied Yamal at the back post. Kalajdzic almost levelled the scoreline seconds after coming on in the second half, but the substitute agonisingly headed Sabitzer’s delivery over the crossbar. Austria were made to pay for that miss as Spain scored their second in the 66th minute, with Baena pulling it back for Porro to head past the helpless Schlager. Yamal thought he grabbed himself a goal, but his snapshot was cleared off the line by Alaba. Oyarzabal got his second of the game, one minute before time, slotting into the bottom-right corner following Cucurella’s searching pass. Spain created 23 shots with 10 on target, reflected by an xG of 2.84, whereas Austria registered five shots with none on target, highlighted by an xG of 0.32. Next up for Spain is a round of 16 tie against Portugal or Croatia at Dallas Stadium. Both those sides will face off in a few hours’ time. That concludes our live commentary of this entertaining 2026 World Cup round of 32 contest. We hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading and take care!
