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Rabat – La Roja qualified for the round of 16 in the 2026 FIFA World Cup following a comfortable 3-0 triumph over Austria in Thursday’s match.
Spain’s victory ends a difficult period for the football powerhouse, which hadn’t won a World Cup knockout match since winning the tournament in South Africa in 2010.
The period of time that followed for the nation of football giants was not a happy one. Spain was knocked out of the World Cup at the group stage in 2014 and then lost two straight Round of 16 matches on penalty shootouts against Russia in 2018 and Morocco in 2022, casting doubt on whether Spain had gone through its glory days.
Those doubts have been put aside, at least for one night in Los Angeles.
Oyarzabal was the man to find the back of the net twice, while Pedro Porro was the other player on the scoresheet as the Luis de la Fuente-led squad delivered its most accomplished performance of the competition.
Winning this match is not only crucial to getting through to the Round of 16 but also significant for the mental edge it gives the current generation of Spanish players, who wish to move on from their disappointing performances at previous World Cups.
This is an exciting period for Spain as it takes the momentum into its Round of 16 encounter against Portugal, arguably the best clash of the Europeans in this tournament
