Spain cruise past Austria as Unai Simón makes World Cup history
Oyarzabal scores twice, Spain beat Austria 3-0, and Unai Simón breaks a Walter Zenga record that had stood since 1990.
Spain keep treating the 2026 World Cup like a routine training session. On Thursday, the European champions beat Austria 3-0, moved into the Round of 16, and watched their goalkeeper write himself into tournament history.
Mikel Oyarzabal opened the scoring in the 36th minute, after Marc Cucurella had a goal ruled out for a foul at a corner, as Sky Sports reported. Pedro Porro headed in the second just after the hour, and Oyarzabal added the third in the 89th.
The most striking number of the night, though, belongs to Unai Simón. The goalkeeper has now gone 519 minutes without conceding in World Cup play, breaking Walter Zenga's mark of 517 that had stood since 1990. With the streak alive, Spain have gone through all four matches at this World Cup without conceding a goal.
There is one more detail that says a lot about Spain's recent relationship with knockout football: according to the CBC, this was Spain's first World Cup knockout victory since winning the title in 2010 — every campaign since had ended in penalties or earlier.
The Golmetria model already rated Spain as the favourite, and this performance only strengthens the read. Friday's update puts La Roja at a 22.9% chance of winning the title, the highest in the tournament, ahead of Argentina (19.2%). The market is more cautious: at licensed sportsbooks, the +420 price implies roughly 15.8% once the margin is removed. On the model's reading, the market may be underrating the reigning European champions.
The next stop is the test that was missing: Portugal, on July 6, in Dallas. An Iberian derby for a quarterfinal place — and a chance for Cristiano Ronaldo, at 41, to face the neighbours at the peak of the Simón era.