Spain won today in the World Cup picture with a 3-0 defeat of Austria and moved into the round of 16. Mikel Oyarzabal scored twice, with Pedro Porro adding the other goal in a match Spain controlled from the first minute.
That is the result readers were looking for on matchday 23: a clean answer to who won today in the World Cup, and a team that never let Austria settle. Oyarzabal opened the scoring after 36 minutes, turning in Marc Cucurella’s delivery, and Porro doubled the lead after 66 minutes with Cucurella again involved in the move.
Spain did not need long to show where the match was heading. Lamine Yamal was described as their main threat, but the decisive actions came from the left-side service and the finishing of Oyarzabal, who finished the job again on 89 minutes after Cucurella provided his second assist. By then Austria were chasing the game and Spain were already in command of the result.
That comfort matters because the same daily predictions set also had people looking beyond Spain. Stanley fancied Croatia to knock out Portugal, while the wider expectation around Spain was that they would progress anyway. Portugal’s match had its own moment when Cristiano Ronaldo converted from the penalty spot after a foul on Renato Veiga, but Spain produced the more complete statement of the day.
For Austria, the problem was not one moment but the whole pattern. Spain were described as in control from the first minute, and that left little room for a comeback once Oyarzabal struck first. The scoreline also underlined how quickly a knockout match can close down: once Porro made it 2-0 after 66 minutes, Austria needed something sharp and immediate that never arrived.
Spain are through, Austria are out, and the next question is not whether Spain belong in the round of 16 but how far this level of control can carry them. For now, the answer to who won today in the World Cup is clear enough: Spain, and they did it with authority.
