Spain last won a World Cup knockout match in 2010. They beat Paraguay in the quarter-final, Germany in the semi-final, and the Netherlands in the final. Then, for 16 years, they could not win one. Russia knocked them out on penalties in 2018. Morocco knocked them out on penalties in 2022.
On Thursday in Los Angeles, they beat Austria 3-0. They hit 23 shots. They recorded an xG of 2.84 against Austria’s 0.32. Austria’s five shots produced zero on target.
The wait is over.
The match
Spain pressed high from the first whistle and Austria could not cope with the intensity. Marc Cucurella was a constant threat down the left, and in the 36th minute he drove into the box and cut the ball back. Mikel Oyarzabal was in the right place, prodded it home from close range. 1-0.
Spain continued to dominate. The second goal came in the 66th minute. Dani Baena received the ball and pulled it back across the box. Pedro Porro arrived late from right back and headed it past the goalkeeper. Spain 2-0.
Oyarzabal completed his double in the 89th minute. Cucurella again delivered from the left, Oyarzabal controlled and slotted into the bottom-right corner. 3-0.
Austria registered five shots in 90 minutes. None on target.
What it says about Spain
Twenty-three shots. Ten on target. An xG of 2.84. Austria 0.32. These numbers do not arrive by accident. This is Spain at something close to their best: pressing, passing, creating, finishing.
Mikel Oyarzabal with two goals and Cucurella with two assists that shaped both. Pedro Porro’s headed goal from Baena’s pull-back. The shape of the performance was recognisably Spanish, possession in dangerous areas, movement between the lines, width used to create central space — but with a directness that Spain’s knockout performances have lacked since 2010.
For the first time in 16 years, Spain won a World Cup knockout match in regular time. They won it by three goals.
The historical context
Spain won the 2010 World Cup. After that: 2014 group stage elimination, 2018 last-16 penalty defeat to Russia, 2022 last-16 penalty defeat to Morocco. Two penalty shoot-out exits in succession. A nation that invented tiki-taka had forgotten how to deliver in knockout football.
Austria are not Russia or Morocco. But a 3-0 win, with 10 shots on target against zero, suggests a team that has found its finishing again.
What comes next
Spain face Portugal in the Round of 16 in Dallas on Sunday 6 July at 8pm BST. It is the third meeting of these sides at a World Cup. Spain won the 2010 round of 16 tie 1-0. The 2018 group stage ended 3-3 — Ronaldo hat-trick, Spain equalising late through Nacho Fernandez’s free kick.
Portugal beat Croatia 2-1 on Thursday in Toronto, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring his first-ever World Cup knockout goal and Gonçalo Ramos heading the winner from the bench in the 94th minute.
The R16 match has the quality of a semi-final. Spain will enter it as the form team. Portugal will enter it with a bench that changes games. This will be settled by fine margins, not by xG gaps of 2.52.
No comment