If anyone had doubts that Spain is a contender for the World Cup, they have now been cleared. In a match where they hardly broke a sweat, Luis de la Fuente's team thrashed Austria 3-0 and advanced to the round of 16.
The match started with a dominance from "La Roja", who in the first few minutes would create several promising chances, including a shot from Lamine Yamal in the first minute that Alexander Schlager could contain, albeit with little effectiveness.
This trend would continue until shortly after the first cooling break, when, after a series of rebounds in the area, the ball would fall to Marc Cucurella, who would send it into the back of the net amidst the crowd. However, the goal would be disallowed for a prior foul by Pau Cubarsí on the Austrian goalkeeper.
After this false joy, de la Fuente's team would begin to increasingly pressure their opponents, creating much clearer chances than before, including a shot from Mikel Oyarzabal in the 32nd minute that the rival goalkeeper barely saved.
This insistence would finally pay off, as at 36 the deserved 1-0 would arrive: Cucurella would cross for an unmarked Oyarzabal in the middle of the area who would simply have to push it in to open the scoring.
Near the end of the first half, the Spaniards would come very close to a second goal on two occasions. At 46, a dangerous free kick from Álex Baena would hit the crossbar and, just moments later, Schlager would deny Yamal a goal with an excellent save.
In the second half, Spain would not lower their intensity and after repeated attempts, they would reach 2-0: at 67, Cucurella, from a rebound generated by Dani Olmo, would touch it to Baena, who would connect with the head of a Pedro Perro running in and would send the ball easily into the back of the net.
Although in the final stretch Austria would try to at least score, their European neighbor, despite having slowed down, would be the one closest to converting in the match. The clearest chance to make it 3-0 would be at the feet of Lamine Yamal at 83, but David Alaba would clear it off the line.
Just 4 minutes after this action, the Spanish team would finally manage to completely seal the deal: Cucurella would assist Oyarzabal again for him to score his double and the last goal of the match.
With this result, Spain advanced to the round of 16, where they will face the winner of the match between Portugal and Croatia next Monday, July 6 at 16:00 (Argentina time) at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas.
