Spain Confident Ahead of World Cup Round of 32 Clash with Austria

Spain enters the Round of 32 at the 2026 World Cup with optimism after topping their group without conceding a goal. The Spanish team secured seven points from nine possible in the group stage and remains one of only two teams, alongside Mexico, to keep a clean sheet so far. However, they will face Austria without Nico Williams, who suffered another injury in the match against Uruguay and is unlikely to return before the quarterfinals, if at all. Meanwhile, Jeremy Pino and Victor Munoz have trained and may be included in the squad.

Spain aims to win a knockout match at the World Cup for the first time since their 2010 victory in South Africa, having been eliminated in the round of 16 in both 2018 and 2022. Austria, on the other hand, will appear in a World Cup knockout game for the first time since 1954, having only reached the second group stage in 1978 and 1982 in recent decades.

Despite criticism of Spain's slower style compared to their Euro 2024 performance, striker Alex Baña, who scored the winning goal against Uruguay, emphasized the team's confidence and ambition to win the tournament. Coach Luis de la Fuente is expected to keep the lineup largely unchanged, possibly adding Dani Olmo to midfield. Austria will miss Patrick Monea, with Konrad Laimer set to play left back tasked with containing Spain's left winger, Lamin Yamal.