Spain moved one step deeper into the FIFA World Cup brackets on Thursday with a 3-0 win over Austria, while Portugal also advanced to the round of 16 after a late header sent it through. The results tightened the path through the 2026 men's World Cup round of 32 and pushed two more teams out of the field.
The timing mattered because Thursday was the penultimate day of round of 32 play, and every result changed what the bracket would look like next. Before the night was over, Spain and Portugal had joined the growing group of teams already through to the round of 16, bringing that number to six after Thursday's matches and leaving the rest of the knockout picture to settle in the final games of the round.
Alexander Schlager was the reason Austria stayed alive as long as it did. He made five saves before halftime, including one on Lamine Yamal after a loose ball following a free kick, and he kept Spain from turning control into an early blowout. Marc Cucurella also had an opening goal overturned for contact on Schlager, which only made the first half feel tighter than the final score suggested.
Then Spain did what good tournament teams do when the pressure finally breaks. Mikel Oyarzabal scored in the 36th minute and added another later, and Pedro Porro headed in from Álex Baena's cross as Spain finished without allowing a shot on target. That kind of control matters because Spain the defense had not allowed a single goal in the World Cup when Thursday ended, even if Schlager had forced them to work for every inch before the match opened up.
Portugal's result carried a different kind of weight, but it moved the bracket the same way. Cristiano Ronaldo scored the first knockout goal of his World Cup career, even after one effort in the 63rd minute was ruled offside, and Gonçalo Ramos later finished with a clutch header that sent Portugal to the round of 16. Croatia had taken the lead through Ivan Perišić in the 53rd minute, but it could not hold it.
The next step is simple, even if the matchups are not yet named: Spain and Portugal are through, Austria and Croatia are out, and the round of 16 is beginning to take shape. The bracket has crossed from theory into elimination, and the teams that survived Thursday now know they have one more life, while everyone else is running out of room.
