Former champions Spain book their place in Round of 16 clash against Portugal with a 3-0 win over Austria in their FIFA World Cup 2026 match.
Updated: July 3, 2026, 12:19 PM IST
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Spain’s Lamine Yamal in action against Austria in FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 32 match. (Photo: IANS)
Spain vs Austria FIFA World Cup 2026: It was a special day for Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon as he entered the Guinness Book of World Records with his remarkable feat in the FIFA World Cup 2026 tournament. Simon has gone more than 520 minutes without conceding a goal in the FIFA World Cup 2026 as Spain hammered Austria 3-0 in a Round of 32 clash at the Los Angeles Stadium in Inglewood on Thursday.
Simon has managed to beat the World Cup record of Italy’s Walter Zenga (517 minutes) in the 1990 World Cup. The 2010 World Cup winners haven’t conceded in any of their last five World Cup games. The only other sides to keep five successive clean sheets at the finals are Italy (1990) and Switzerland (2006-2010).
Mikel Oyarzabal scored two goals as Spain beat Austria 3-0 for their 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 up one of their finest shows in the tournament so far.
“The great teams step up when it’s needed. We played a great match. We came close to perfection, but we must keep improving,” Spain coach Luis De La Fuente was quoted as saying by AP news agency.
Spain’s Lamine Yamal also became the youngest European player in history to end on the winning side in 10 matches at major tournaments, aged 18 years and 354 days. He is five years younger than the previous record holder (Kylian Mbappé – 23 years and 355 days).
“I’m happy to have helped the team for us to go through another round. 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,” Spain’s goal-scorer Oyarzabal said.
The ‘La Roja’ will next face Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal, a 2-1 winner over Croatia, at the AT & T Stadium in Dallas on Monday in the round of 16.
Yamal managed four of Spain’s 10 shots on goal while getting wild cheers from the sellout crowd at SoFi Stadium featuring Penelope Cruz in the stands. 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 their 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 minute to rise up in the ‘Golden Boot’ race. 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. 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,” Spain manager De La Fuente said.
Goalkeeper Alexander Schlager made six saves in an outstanding performance for Austria, who reached the knockout rounds of their first World Cup since 1998 thanks to a thrilling 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.
