INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Spain arrived at this year’s World Cup as one of the favorites to win the 48-team tournament and then went unbeaten through group play, but those first three matches weren’t overly impressive.
When knockout play finally arrived Thursday for La Roja, though, this star-studded team turned on its full talent and served notice that Spain can be just as good as everybody thought — and is probably getting better.
Mikel Oyarzabal scored twice as Spain beat Austria 3-0 in a round-of-32 pairing at SoFi Stadium for its first World Cup victory in a knockout match since winning its lone title at the event 16 years ago in South Africa.
Pedro Porro added a goal in the second half as La Roja put on its most impressive performance of the tournament while demonstrating offensive creativity and defensive rigor throughout its vaunted lineup.
“The great teams step up when it’s needed,” Spain coach Luis De La Fuente said. “We played a great match. We came close to perfection, but we must keep improving.”
While Oyarzabal, fullback Marc Cucurella and winger Lamine Yamal all had sensational moments in the offensive attack, Spain also has yet to allow a goal at this year’s World Cup, which is being co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States. Austria failed to get a shot on target, so Unai Simón didn’t have to make a save while posting his fourth straight shutout and setting a World Cup record with 519 consecutive scoreless minutes dating to the previous tournament four years ago in Qatar.
Everybody in a red shirt was happy after a dominant day at the home of the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers and Rams — but nobody in that group was satisfied, either.
“I’m happy to have helped the team for us to go through another round,” Oyarzabal said. “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.”
La Roja will next face Portugal in the round of 16 on Monday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Portugal overcame a deficit to beat Croatia later Thursday at BMO Field in Toronto.
Yamal had four of his team’s 10 shots on goal while getting wild cheers from the pro-Spain sellout crowd. The 18-year-old sensation who competes professionally for Barcelona in Spain’s top-level La Liga 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 its marquee offense from Oyarzabal, the Real Sociedad captain who has four goals at this year’s World Cup. He opened the scoring in the 36th minute and clinching the victory in the 89th. 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,” De La Fuente said. “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.”
Goalkeeper Alexander Schlager made six saves in an outstanding performance for Austria, which reached the knockout stage of its first World Cup appearance since 1998 by squeaking out a late draw with an injury-time goal against Algeria. Austria still hasn’t won a knockout match at the World Cup since 1954.
“I cannot remember any unforced error they made,” Austria coach Ralf Rangnick said of Spain. “I think they showed us their best performance. I would dare to say we did not only meet the European champion, but possibly the next world champion.
“If you want to win it, you need to win against Spain. But if we had a lucky punch, we could have had a chance.”
Spain is firmly back in World Cup contention for the first time since 2010. La Roja lost two knockout matches and got eliminated in the group stage over the past three World Cups, but the team is now unbeaten in 35 straight competitive matches since March 2023.
Spain won the 2023 Nations League and the 2024 European Championship in that stretch, but it also lost the 2025 Nations League final to Portugal in a penalty kick shootout.
After a cautious start against Austria, Spain unleashed its full attack after the first-half hydration break. Three minutes after Schlager made a diving fingertip save on Oyarzabal’s low shot, the Spain forward came unmarked in the penalty area and coolly converted Cucurella’s pass.
Spain kept up its pressure after halftime, playing some of its most creative soccer of the tournament. It was rewarded when Álex Baena broke in on the left side and lifted a pass to an unmarked Porro, who banged home an emphatic header for his first international goal.
“People have their opinions. We’ve been doing our job since day one,” Porro said. “We believe in ourselves, and whatever people on the outside say is fair enough.”
Oyarzabal wrapped it up by converting another sharp pass from Cucurella.
Simón has only had to make four saves in his four straight shutouts. His World Cup streak of 519 scoreless minutes broke the tournament record set by Italy great Walter Zenga at the 1990 World Cup in Italy.
Marko Arnautović came on as a second-half substitute for Austria. Rangnick said afterward that the 37-year-old striker had played his final international match.