Spain vs. Austria Top Storylines, Odds, Live Stream for World Cup 2026
Spain is in search of its first World Cup knockout-round win since the 2010 final in Thursday's round-of-32 clash with Austria.
La Roja were knocked out on penalties in the round of 16 at each of the last two World Cups. They didn't make it out of the group stage in 2014.
It's quite a long drought for a nation that won two European Championships and made the semifinals at another Euros since its last World Cup knockout-round game.
Austria is a significant underdog despite earning four points and placing second in Group J.
The expectation is that Spain wins and sets up a classic in the round of 16 against the Portugal-Croatia winner.
Match Info and Odds
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Date: Thursday, July 2
Start Time: 3 p.m. ET
TV: Fox
Live Stream: Fox One or FoxSports.com.
To Qualify for Next Round: Spain (-950; bet $950 to win $100); Austria (+600; bet $100 to win $600)
90-Minute Money Line: Spain (-320); Austria (+1000); Draw (+420)
Spain Looking to End 16-Year World Cup Knockout Round Drought
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Spain hasn't bad the best luck in the knockout round since its 2010 triumph in South Africa.
La Roja missed the knockout round entirely in 2014 and then were eliminated by Russia and Morocco on penalty kicks in 2018 and 2022 in the round of 16.
Spain faced an early hiccup in Group H with a scoreless draw against Cape Verde, but it rallied to score five goals in the next two games to top the group.
The result versus Cape Verde can be taken with a grain of salt too since Lamine Yamal didn't start that contest as part of injury recovery.
Spain looked like a much different team in attack when the Barcelona superstar was on the field from the start against Saudi Arabia and Uruguay.
That's why there isn't too much concern about Spain succumbing to an upset on Thursday.
The Spanish defense didn't allow a goal in the group stage and the attack found a rhythm with Lamine Yamal in the fold.
A round-of-32 victory is expected, but getting back to the final will be tough. Portugal or Croatia await in the round of 16 and France resides in the same side of the bracket as well.
Austria Comes In As Significant Underdog
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Only Cape Verde is a longer underdog than Austria in the remaining round of 32 games.
Austria's primary goal was to make it out of Group J, which it did in second place behind Argentina.
Austria fell by two goals to Lionel Messi and Co. and then finished second by way of a chaotic 3-3 draw with Algeria.
Marcel Sabitzer, who plays his club soccer at Borussia Dortmund, will be vital on both ends of the ball.
He'll be tasked with breaking up the Spanish attack when he defends and with starting, or even finishing, counters when Austria has the ball in rare opportunities.
Austria proved in its clashes with Algeria and Jordan that it could score, but it didn't earn a clean sheet in any of its group-stage games.
That's a concerning stat going into a round-of-32 matchup with one of the pre-tournament favorites.
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