Spain beat Austria 3-0 on 2 July and will face Portugal in the last 16, one of the standout ties of the round.
Spain beat Austria 3-0 to book a last-16 tie against Portugal.
Spain beat Austria 3-0 on 2 July and will face Portugal in the last 16, one of the ties of the round. The win sends Spain through with room to spare and ends Austria's tournament. 1
The bracket now pairs two of Europe's form teams. Spain meet a Portugal side that beat Croatia to get here, carried by Cristiano Ronaldo's late-career World Cup records .
Spain beat Austria 3-0 on 2 July, a comfortable win that sends them into the last 16, the round in which the tournament's remaining teams are cut from 16 to eight. Spain will now play Portugal, who beat Croatia in a much tighter match on the same side of the bracket.
Spain's underlying pattern this tournament has been control without conversion: 74% possession produced nothing against Cape Verde's low block on 15 June, while a similar territorial dominance against Austria returned three goals. The variable has been the opponent's defensive organisation, not any change in how Spain create chances.
That pattern matters heading into a Portugal tie, since Portugal have shown they can be pinned back and still win via individual moments, Ronaldo's penalty and Ramos's header against Croatia, rather than sustained defensive resistance.
