Spain overpowered Austria in the Round of 32
Portugal recovered to eliminate Croatia
A Spanish sensation and the Portuguese GOAT set up one of the most mouth-watering matches this century. Lamine Yamal’s spellbinding sorcery spurred Spain to a 3-0 win over Austria, while Cristiano Ronaldo scored as Portugal rallied to edge Croatia at the FIFA World Cup 2026™. The Seleção das Quinas and La Roja will now collide in the Round of 16. Embolden and underline it in your calendars.
Don’t sleep on La Roja. Or the man Luis de la Fuente lauded “a great among greats”. Mikel Oyarzabal took his tally to four in North America to pull close to Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi, Harry Kane and Erling Haaland in the adidas Golden Boot race. Spain kept their fourth shutout in succession to sail to Dallas. Another major plus was Lamine Yamal, who got glittered during 85 minutes on grass.
Only one 40-something could emerge smiling. Ultimately, it was Cristiano Ronaldo who overcame his long-time Real Madrid team-mate Luka Modric. Croatia struck first though another veteran, Ivan Perisic, and then had a goal disallowed. So, too, did Ronaldo before he stroked home a spot-kick to equalise. In injury time, substitute striker Goncalo Ramos nicked Roberto Martinez’s men ahead, before the faintest of touches dramatically denied Josko Gvardiol an 11-hour leveller. What a game of football.
Unai Simon equalled Walter Zenga’s record for five consecutive World Cup clean sheets. The Spaniard also eclipsed the Italian's landmark for the most minutes without conceding in the competition: 519 to 517.
Cristiano Ronaldo, in his ninth appearance in the knockout phase of the World Cup, finally scored in it. The 41-year-old duly became the oldest marksman in knockout history, outranking his good friend and former team-mate Pepe, who was 39.
Sources: FIFA Official
