Spain conquers Hollywood (3-0)
Los Angeles has always known how to recognise a great story. It gave birth to legendary westerns, gripping thrillers and blockbuster productions capable of keeping audiences on the edge of their seats. This morning, however, the script was written on the pitch, and the crowd could barely stay seated. Spain took centre stage, and Luis de la Fuente's side defeated Austria 3-0 in the FIFA World Cup Round of 16.
The Spanish national team dominated from the opening whistle, creating chances without initially finding the breakthrough but constantly threatening the Austrian goal. Just two minutes into the match, all eyes were on Lamine Yamal, whose lively runs from the wing repeatedly ignited the crowd as he urged the supporters on. After several promising moves, Marc Cucurella thought he had opened the scoring in the 29th minute from a corner kick, but Swedish referee Glenn Nyberg ruled the goal out for a foul.
Only five minutes later, Mikel Oyarzabal finished off a flowing move with a low, angled strike, but Alexander Schlagerproduced a fine save to keep the score level. The breakthrough finally arrived in the 36th minute when Pedri released Cucurella down the left, and the full-back delivered a perfectly weighted cross to the penalty spot, where Oyarzabal calmly converted to give Spain a deserved lead.
Oyarzabal has now scored four goals at this FIFA World Cup.
Spain continued to push before the break. Álex Baena rattled the crossbar with a superb free-kick, and Lamine Yamalcame close to converting the rebound as Spain searched for a second goal.
After the interval, the national team elevated its performance even further. With both wingers producing outstanding displays and further attempts from Dani Olmo and Rodri, Spain steadily tightened its grip on the match. In the 66th minute, Baena delivered an inviting cross that Pedro Porro attacked with a powerful header, scoring his first-ever FIFA World Cup goal to double Spain's advantage at Los Angeles Stadium.
Pedro Porro opened his FIFA World Cup scoring account against Austria.
Lamine Yamal had one final opportunity before being replaced by Gavi in the 86th minute, but Schlager denied him from close range. Moments later, Oyarzabal—continuing his outstanding run of form—added his second goal of the afternoon to make it 3-0. With his brace, the Real Sociedad forward drew level with Fernando Hierro on 29 international goals, moving into joint sixth place on Spain's all-time scoring list.
Meanwhile, Unai Simón surpassed Walter Zenga's legendary mark to establish a new all-time FIFA World Cup record of 519 consecutive minutes without conceding a goal.
Spain received a standing ovation from a packed 70,492-strong crowd, who witnessed a Hollywood ending worthy of the occasion. With a convincing victory, the national team secured its place in the Round of 16 and will now travel to Dallas, Texas, where it will compete for a place in the quarter-finals on 6 July.
DATA SHEET
XI Unai Simón (P); Pedro Porro, Pau Cubarsí, Aymeric Laporte (Pubill, 90'+3'), Marc Cucurella; Rodrigo Hernández, Pedri González (Fabián Ruiz, 90'+3'), Dani Olmo (Merino, 72'); Álex Baena (Ferran Torres, 72'), Lamine Yamal (Gavi, 86') y Mikel Oyarzabal.
Bench: David Raya (PS), Joan Garcia (PS), Marc Pubill, Alejandro Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Marcos Llorente, Mikel Merino, Fabián Ruiz, Gavi, Martín Zubimendi, Ferran Torres, Yeremy Pino, Nico Williams, Víctor Muñoz y Borja Iglesias.
Head Coach: Luis de la Fuente.
XI: Alexander Schalager, Kevin Danso, Xaver Schlanger (Grillitsch, 46'), Stefan Posch, Nicolas Seiwald (Chukwuemeka, 46'), David Alaba, Marcel Sabitzer, Michael Gregoritsch (Arnautovic, 60'), Romano Schmid (Kalajdzic, 60'), Konrad Laimer, Paul Wanner.
Bench: Florian Wiegele, Patrick Pentz, David Affengruber, Marko Arnautovic, Florian Grillitsch, Sasa Kalajdzic, Philipp Lienhart, Philip Mwene, Carney Chukwuemeka, Dejan Ljubicic, Patrick Wimmer, Alexander Prass, Marco Friedl, Michael Svoboda, Alessandro Schoepf.
Head Coach: Ralf Rangnick.
1-0 | Mikel Oyarzabal, m. 36.
2-0 | Pedro Perro, m. 66.
3-0 | Mikel Oyarzabal,
Referee: Glen Nyberg (Sweden)
Assistant Referees: Mahbod Beigi and Andreas Soderkvis (Sweden)
Fourth Official: Dahane Beida (Mauritania)
Reserve Assistant Referee: Elvis Noupue (Cameroon)
Round of 32 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Atlanta Stadium, Georgia, (USA).