2026 World Cup: Spain beat Austria after Mikel Oyarzabal’s goal, Round of 16
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — This world cup is for its biggest stars. Spain showed on Thursday that they do not need him.
With Lamine Yamal largely silent, Spain relied on quick passing, patient formation and Marc Cucurella’s fine set-up to overcome Austria 3-0 in the round of 32 match at the SoFi Stadium.
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Cucurella set up Mikel Oyarzabal for Spain’s first goal in the 36th minute, sliding a perfectly weighted pass into the box which Oyarzabal headed into the far corner with his first touch. Pedro Porro added his first international goal in the second half, and Cucurella found Oyarzabal again in the 89th minute to complete the victory.
With the win, Spain advances to face the winner of Portugal and Croatia in the Round of 16, but it all started with Oyarzabal’s volley into the net.
Spain took control after feeling comfortable and had the better of the chances for most of the first half. Austria’s best look came when Michael Gregoritsch just missed the end of a cross in front of goal, but the Austrians finished the half with just two shots on target.
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Spain thought they had scored in the 30th minute when Marc Cucurella fired into the net after a corner, but the goal was ruled out after Austria goalkeeper Alexander Schlager was ruled out. VAR checked it and a no goal call was made.
Minutes later, Schlager kept Austria alive again, pushing Mikel Oyarzabal’s low shot past the post.
But there was nothing Shlager could do in the 36th minute. Pedri started a move through the middle and found the ball from Marc Cucurella who picked out Oyarzabal with a perfect ball in the box, and Oyarzabal swept it into the far corner with his first touch.
It was Oyarzabal’s 16th goal in his last 16 games for Spain.
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Spain almost doubled their advantage in first-half stoppage time. Alex Baena bent the free kick off the crossbar, and after Austria failed to clear the rebound, Yamal was denied from close range by Schlager.
Austria manager Ralf Rangnick looked to turn the game around after the break, changing his team with several substitutions in the hope of securing an equaliser. Instead, Spain struck again.
In the 66th minute, Cucurella worked the ball to Baena on the left, Baena gave the ball unselfishly into the box. Pedro Porro was there to meet it with a powerful header that beat Schlager and doubled Spain’s lead. It was Porro’s first international goal and Baena’s first assist of the World Cup after the midfielder missed an opportunity to shoot himself in favor of setting up his teammate.
Spain put the game away in the 89th minute, and it was the connection of Cucurella-Oyarzabal. Given plenty of space on the left, Cucurella curled another perfectly weighted ball into the penalty area, where Oyarzabal slid it past Alexander Schlager for his second goal of the night. It also capped another clinical career for the Spanish striker, who has 17 goals in his last 16 appearances for the national team.
Spain will face the winner of the Portugal-Croatia round of 32 match on Thursday night in the Round of 16. Austria’s campaign ends after reaching the knockout stage for the first time since 1954, but they had no answer to Spain’s fine passing or relentless control.
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