Spain defeat Austria 3-0 to qualify for the last 16 of the World Cup

Considered one of the strongest contenders for the championship in the World Cup, Spain faced Austria in the first elimination round and established total dominance against the Alpine republic, securing a 3-0 victory. The Spain national team, which never lost control throughout the match and made its presence felt on the pitch, left the field with the confidence of completing this difficult encounter like a 'task' and succeeded in remaining among the last 16 teams in the tournament. Speaking at the press conference held after the match, Spain Head Coach Luis de la Fuente expressed his satisfaction with the performance displayed by his team, stating that they played a wonderful match and that they were extremely happy as a result. The names who scored the goals that brought the victory were Mikel Oyarzabal, who also showed his effect in the second half of the match with two goals, and Pedro Porro.

On the Austria side, experienced names such as Marcel Sabitzer, who is also known from the Turkey Süper Lig community, did not hesitate to honestly evaluate the situation on the field after the match passed. Sabitzer, in his evaluations, said that Spain played clearly better than the team they had on the field and that this victory belonged entirely to Spain, praising their opponents. Similarly, Austria's coach Rangnick also admitted that despite his team's bad luck in the tournament, their opponents were not an ordinary team, on the contrary they played against a completely top-level team and the victory was deserved. However, Rangnick also added to his words that he believed his team could have achieved a different result if they had been paired with a different opponent, arguing that the draws were not fair.

One of the most striking statistics of this match was undoubtedly the record broken by goalkeeper Unai Simon, who guarded Spain's nets. Simon, continuing his successful performance, went 519 minutes without conceding a goal in the general statistics covering World Cup history. With this performance, he managed to break the 'longest clean sheet' record of 517 minutes previously held by Italian legendary goalkeeper Walter Zenga and wrote his name in our history in golden letters. Simon's success is cited as the greatest proof that Spain's claim in the tournament is not only solid in the attacking line, but also in defense and goalkeeping performance.

From the very first moments of the struggle, Austria tried to increase the pressure on the field under the leadership of captain David Alaba, and with Gregoritsch, they approached a goal in the first important position created by Sabitzer's pass. However, the Alpine team, who could not get a result from this position, were later forced to defend against the increasing pressure of Spain's playmakers such as Yamal and Olmo. Especially towards the middle of the match, Austria goalkeeper Schlager started to concede positions constantly against Spain's increasing tempo attacks. The Austria defense, unable to withstand Spain's constant pressure, could not prevent Oyarzabal, who met the ball with Cucurella's pass, from finding the net with his shot, making the score 1-0.

After the first half, Austria head coach Rangnick also made changes, wanting to start the second half by strengthening the midfield and forward line in particular, and made new moves. However, the picture on the field did not change, and Spain maintained its pressure without deviating from game discipline and achieved a comfortable victory. Porro headed the ball in the corner kick taken by Baena, carrying the score to 2-0 and greatly relaxing his team. Spain did not settle for this goal and continued to look for a goal in the final moments of the match, and although Alaba cleared Yamal's shot from the line, it was Oyarzabal who sent the ball into the nets again, making the score 3-0. Spain, who were not overshadowed by the goal, earned the right to face either Portugal or Croatia in the next round to be played in Dallas, USA.