Spain the machine: Oyarzabal double and a shutout for the ages sweep Austria aside

Reigning European champions Spain crushed Austria 3-0 to reach the Round of 16, their first World Cup knockout win since their 2010 title. Mikel Oyarzabal scored twice, Pedro Porro added a third, and Spain denied Austria a single shot on target. Unai Simón broke an all-time World Cup clean-sheet record; Lamine Yamal ran the show.

If anyone had forgotten that Spain are the team to beat, this was a reminder in bold. The European champions dismantled Austria 3-0 in Los Angeles with a performance of such control that the result never felt in doubt for a second. It is their first World Cup knockout victory since they won the whole thing in 2010, and on this evidence, they mean to do it again.

Mikel Oyarzabal was the finisher, Marc Cucurella the supplier. On thirty-six minutes Oyarzabal redirected a low Cucurella cross first-time past the goalkeeper, and on eighty-nine he sealed his brace from another pinpoint Cucurella delivery. In between, Pedro Porro charged into the box to power home an Álex Baena cross. Three goals, three assists from the full-backs and wide men, total control.

The numbers are frightening. Spain had sixty-five percent of the ball, ninety-one percent passing accuracy, and twenty-two shots. Austria managed five, and not one of them was on target. Spain became the first team to deny an opponent a single shot on target in a World Cup knockout match since Germany did it to Argentina in the 2014 final. Ralf Rangnick's side, so spirited in the group, were simply suffocated.

Two Spaniards made history of their own. Goalkeeper Unai Simón kept a fifth consecutive World Cup clean sheet, extending his run past 519 minutes without conceding and breaking Walter Zenga's all-time World Cup record that had stood since Italy in 1990. And Lamine Yamal, named Player of the Match at just eighteen, tormented Austria all night, becoming the youngest player on record to complete ten or more dribbles and make ten or more touches in the opposition box in a single World Cup game.

Spain, who came through a testing group without conceding, now travel to Dallas for a Round of 16 tie with the winner of Portugal versus Croatia. Whoever it is will know they face the tournament's most complete side, a team blending Cucurella's graft, Rodri's control and Yamal's genius.

For Kenya, this was appointment viewing for the football purist. Spain are the closest thing this tournament has to a machine, and Lamine Yamal, a teenager playing like a veteran, is box office wherever football is loved. Hii Spain ni mashine, na huyu Yamal ni mchawi wa kweli: this Spain is a machine, and this Yamal is a genuine wizard. As the knockouts blaze on, La Roja look ominous, and our Europe verdict had them out in front all along, alongside a spirited Austria who bow out with pride.