Oyarzabal’s Brace leads Spain to the Round of 16, Defeating Austria

By Daniel Feuerstein | Inglewood, CA | July 2nd, 2026

The Round of 32 continued when two European sides faced each other for a ticket into the next round. While Spain did well in their group, Austria struggled and needed a late stoppage time goal to punch their ticket along with Algeria. But now they are facing Spain, and they were outworked and outclassed the entire match. Spain were hungrier, wanted it more, and took care of business to advance into the next round as they earned a clean-sheet victory by the final score of three goals to nil.

Mikel Oyarzabal’s two goals were fabulous

With so many people looking and watching for Lamine Yamal to make magic for Spain, the other attacker for this Spanish side has been Mikel Oyarzabal. His play and movement have been brilliant to watch, and he has scored his share of goals for his national team, and they are showing this team can challenge France for their opportunity to win the World Cup or at least challenge the French to make the World Cup Final if they do meet them in the Semi-Finals on their side of the bracket.

Spain was attacking Austria and tried to muscle through, but the defense was strong, and their goalkeeper cleared the ball down the pitch. But Spain did get the ball back at the center circle and tried another attacking run to get that lead. When Pedri received the ball, he dribbled down the middle and made a pass to the far side toward Marc Cucurella. As he made a few steps going down the lane, a quick pass toward the path of Mikel Oyarzabal, who stopped and stepped back from his defender and took a quick low shot that froze the keeper and went into the back of the net in the 36th minute.

His second goal ended the match as Spain took the ball from the Austrians in the midfield, and Cucurella once again was the main provider, giving Oyarzabal the ball to create the dangerous moment. When Cucurella was attacking down the near side, he was waiting for a teammate to make the attacking run; that was Oyarzabal staying onside, jogging down the middle. When the ball was crossed to the middle, Oyarzabal just put a simple side foot tap in with enough pace to tuck it inside the far post in the 89th minute to end the match

Spain patiently waits to score the second goal

Spain wanted to get that second goal, but instead of rushing into the Austrian area, they waited patiently and surveyed how they wanted to challenge the Austrians. It all started after Dani Olmo made the pass toward Cucurella and was taken down at the same time. With a man on him, Cucurella waited for the right time for a teammate to make a move and give him the ball. That man was Alex Baena, making the run down the near side and turning toward the area. He made a nice cross looking for a teammate toward the far post, but making the run into the box out of nowhere was Pedro Porro, and delivers a running header, beating the keeper for his first International Goal in the 66th minute.

Austria were outplayed

The Austrians did give it their best against Spain, but they were outmatched and outgunned. For the majority of the match, they were defending too many times to keep their opponents off the scoreboard, but at the end of the day, Spain was a clinical side and were hunting for more goals than just the three they scored in this match. Austria just barely hung on in the group stage to qualify for the knockout stage, and now they are going home after being handled by Spain.

Spain gets the win over Austria and heads to the Round of 16 in the 2026 FIFA World Cup

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