The 2026 FIFA World Cup Round of 32 continued on Thursday, with several top teams fighting for their spot in the knockout rounds.
Spain, Portugal and Switzerland won their matches to seal their positions in the tournament’s Round of 16; Austria, Croatia and Algeria were eliminated.
Here are the key takeaways from a full day of World Cup action:
Spain put in a statement performance
It’s been a strange old tournament for la furia roja. Spain entered the World Cup as the presumed favorite, but an early draw with Cabo Verde and a less-than-stellar win over Uruguay made many doubt its bonafides.
Yeah…about that. Spain opened its knockout account with a bang, putting three goals past a pretty strong Austria side while making it all look easy. The good news: Lamine Yamal played nearly 90 minutes and looked like he was (finally) back to full fitness. The better news: Spain didn’t need Yamal to get this win over the line. It was underrated Real Sociedad striker Mikel Oyarzabal who made the magic happen — and his efforts thrust him straight into the tournament’s Golden Boot race.
Spain 3-0 Austria
Six tournaments in, Cristiano Ronaldo finally broke his World Cup knockout goal duck
It feels impossible, but Cristiano Ronaldo entered this tournament without a single World Cup knockout-round goal to his name. Seven previous opportunities — three in Germany 2006, one in South Africa 2010, one in Russia 2018 and two in Qatar 2022 — yielded no success for the Portuguese attacker. We spent 20 years living in a world where Ronaldo had fewer World Cup knockout goals than former American midfielder Julian Green.
