Spain will face Austria in a Round of 32 clash of the FIFA World Cup 2026 on July 2, with the winner set to play in the last 16 against the victorious team of the Portugal vs Croatia match.
Spain, who are one the favourites to win the tournament, started the World Cup on a shocking note as they were held by World Cup debutants Cabo Verde in a goalless draw. La Roja returned to the winning ways with an emphatic 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia before rounding-up their group-stage with a narrow 1-0 victory over Uruguay, taking the first spot in Group H.
Austria's campaign began with a 3-1 win over World Cup debutants Jordan. A Lionel Messi brace ensured that the Ralf Rangnick-coached side tasted a 0-2 defeat in their next match. A thrilling 3-3 draw against Algeria brought Austria's group-stage draws to an end and ensured a second place in Group J.
Match Time, Venue
The Round of 32 match between Spain and Austria will be played at the SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California. It will kick-off at 12:30 a.m. Indian Standard Time on Friday.
Head to Head
- Matches played: 16
- Spain wins: 9
- Austria wins: 4
- Draws: 3
Form Guide (last five matches, most recent first)
- Spain: W-W-D-W-D
- Austria: D-L-W-W-W
Spain
- Possible Starting 11: Unai Simon; Marcos Llorente, Pau Cubarsi, Aymeric Laporte, Marc Cucurella; Mikel Merino, Rodrigo Hernandez, Pedri Gonzalez; Lamine Yamal, Mikel Oyarzabal, Alex Baena.
- Substitutes: Pedro Porro, Marc Pubill, Eric Garcia, Alejandro Grimaldo, Martin Zubimendi, Fabian Ruiz, Pablo 'Gavi', Ferran Torres, Borja Iglesias, Dani Olmo, Victor Munoz, Nico Williams Yeremy Pino.
- Coach: Luis de la Fuente
Austria
- Possible Starting 11: Alexander Schlager; Stefan Posch, Philipp Lienhart, David Alaba, Phillipp Mwene; Nicolas Seiwald, Xaver Schlager; Konrad Laimer, Romano Schmid, Marcel Sabitzer; Marko Arnautovic.
- Substitutes: Patrick Pentz, Florian Wiegele, David Affengruber, Kevin Danso, Alexander Prass, Michael Svoboda, Marco Friedl, Christoph Baumgartner, Carney Chukwuemeka, Florian Grillitsch, Alessandro Schopf, Paul Wanner, Patrick Wimmer, Michael Gregoritsch, Sasa Kalajdzic.
- Coach: Ralf Rangnick
Players to Watch
- Lamine Yamal (Spain): The Barcelona winger has only score one goal in three matches.
- Marko Arnautovic (Austria): The striker has netted two goals in three matches. The 37-year-old will play a key role in breaking Spain's defence, which is yet to concede a goal this tournament.
How To Watch Live Telecast?
The match will be televised live in India on Unite8 Sports 1, Unite8 Sports 1 HD, Unite8 Sports 2 and Unite8 Sports 2 HD television channels.
How To Watch Live Streaming?
The Spain vs Austria game will be streamed live on the ZEE5 app and website in English, Malayalam, Bangla and Hindi.
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