JAKARTA - The Spanish national team qualified for the 2026 World Cup 16th round after defeating Austria 3-0 in the 32nd round match at the Los Angeles Stadium, United States on Friday WIB.
Mikel Oyarzabal became the hero of La Furia Roja's victory by scoring two goals (brace), with another goal scored by Pedro Porro.
This convincing victory brings Spain into the round of 16, where they will face the winner of the Portugal vs Croatia duel.
Meanwhile, Austria had to end their campaign after being eliminated in the first knockout stage.
Spain immediately took control of the game from the start. The first opportunity came in the second minute when Lamine Yamal fired from outside the penalty area, but was still able to be stopped by Austrian goalkeeper Alexander Schlager.
Spain continued to press the Austrian defense. In the 30th minute, Marc Cucurella briefly broke the opponent's goal after catching a ball from the chaos in front of the goal, but the goal was annulled by the referee because of a foul in the attack process.
Schlager again became Austria's savior after thwarting Oyarzabal's golden opportunity. However, the deadlock finally broke in the 36th minute.
Taking advantage of Cucurella's pull-back from the left side, Oyarzabal finished with one touch in the penalty area to give Spain a 1-0 lead.
Towards the break, Spain almost doubled the lead with a free kick from Alex Baena that hit the crossbar.
The ball was then kicked by Yamal in the penalty box, but was again thwarted by Schlager's impressive performance. The first half ended with Spain leading 1-0.
Entering the second half, Spain continued to dominate. Oyarzabal threatened through a header from a corner kick, which did not lead to the goal.
Austria tried to get back on track in the 61st minute through a header from Sasa Kalajdzic. However, the ball just passed narrowly over Unai Simon's goal.
Spain finally increased the lead in the 66th minute. Pedro Porro successfully headed Baena's accurate cross to change the score to 2-0.
Yamal almost put his name on the scoreboard before the match ended. However, his shot was successfully swept away by the Austrian defender right on the goal line.
Oyarzabal, as reported by Antara, then closed Spain's victory party in the 89th minute. He again took advantage of Cucurella's pass to score his second goal and ensure a landslide 3-0 victory that led La Furia Roja into the last 16.
Spain (4-1-2-3): Unai Simon; Pedro Porro, Aymeric Laporte, Pau Cubarsi, Marc Cucurella; Rodri; Alex Baena (Mikel Merino 71'), Pedri (Fabian Ruiz 90'); Dani Olmo (Ferran Torres 71'), Mikel Oyarzabal, Lamine Yamal (Gavi 85').
Austria (4-2-3-1): Alexander Schlager; Kevin Danso, Stefan Posch, David Alaba, Maximilian Wober; Xaver Schlager (Florian Grillitsch 46'), Nicolas Seiwald (Carney Chukwuemeka 46'); Marcel Sabitzer, Romano Schmid (Sasa Kalajdzic 60'), Konrad Laimer; Michael Gregoritsch (Marko Arnautovic 60'). Alexander Prass entered in place of Paul Wanner in the 85th minute.
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