Mikel Oyarzabal at the double as Spain beat Austria and cruise into last 16

Spain's Mikel Oyarzabal scores their third goal past a despairing Alex Schlager. Spain's Mikel Oyarzabal scores their third goal past a despairing Alex Schlager. World Cup 2026 Mikel Oyarzabal at the double as Spain beat Austria and cruise into last 16 Sid Lowe at Los Angeles Stadium Thu 2 Jul 2026 17.12 EDT Last modified on Fri 3 Jul 2026 00.15 EDT Share Prefer the Guardian on Google The group stage is something you have to do but the World Cup starts here, Lamine Yamal had insisted, and down on the Pacific that was how it played out. It wasn’t just that Spain defeated Austria to reach the last 16 against Portugal or Croatia, their first victory at the knockout stage since they were champions in 2010; it was that on an enjoyable sunny afternoon they were Spain again. Two goals from Mikel Oyarzabal and another from Pedro Porro completed a 3-0 win that was as recognisably theirs as their coach had requested beforehand. “Almost perfect,” Luis de la Fuente called it afterwards.