Los Angeles, July 2 (IANS) The 2010 winners Spain will clash with Austria in a crucial FIFA World Cup 2026 round of 32 clash at the Los Angeles Stadium on Friday (IST).
Spain are soaring with confidence as they enter the knockout round. After a slight stumble out of the gates in a 0-0 draw with Cabo Verde, the venerable La Roja attack has kicked into gear thanks in large part to the presence of superstar Lamine Yamal, who had a goal and an assist in the 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia. Luis de la Fuente’s side then captured the top spot in Group H with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Uruguay to earn a spot in this LA showdown.
Austria’s journey to the business end of the tournament has been full of twists and turns. An opening 3-1 win against Jordan in Group J was followed by a humbling 2-0 defeat to Lionel Messi and Argentina. That set the stage for a wild group finale against Algeria during which Sasa Kalajdzic’s last-gasp equaliser earned a 3-3 draw and a date with the reigning European champions.
Spain are unbeaten in their last five matches against Austria, winning each of the last two by four-goal margins.
Their most recent meeting dates back to 2009, when Spain thrashed Austria 5-1, However, they will be wary of their Austrian opponents, having lost their last World Cup meeting 2-1 in 1978.
How to watch Spain vs Austria live in India:
Live streaming and live telecast of the FIFA World Cup 2026 football matches will be available on the Zee5 platform and app in India. A subscription will be needed.
Live telecast of the FIFA World Cup 2026 will be available on the Unite8 Sports 1, Unite8 Sports 1 HD, Unite8 Sports 2, and Unite8 Sports 2 HD TV channels in India.
Key details
Date and kick-off time: Friday, July 3, 12:30 AM IST
Venue: Los Angeles Stadium, Los Angeles.
Referee: Glenn Nyberg
Squads:
Spain –
Goalkeepers: Unai Simon, David Raya, Joan Garcia
Defenders: Pedro Porro, Marcos Llorente, Aymeric Laporte, Pau Cubarsi, Marc Pubill, Eric Garcia, Marc Cucurella, Alejandro Grimaldo
Midfielders: Rodrigo Hernandez, Martin Zubimendi, Pedri Gonzalez, Fabian Ruiz, Mikel Merino, Pablo Paez ‘Gavi’, Alex Baena
Forwards: Mikel Oyarzabal, Lamine Yamal, Ferran Torres, Borja Iglesias, Dani Olmo, Victor Munoz, Nico Williams, Yeremy Pin
Austria-
Goalkeepers: Patrick Pentz, Alexander Schlager, Florian Wiegele
Defenders: David Affengruber, David Alaba, Kevin Danso, Marco Friedl, Philipp Lienhart, Phillipp Mwene, Stefan Posch, Alexander Prass, Michael Svoboda
Midfielders: Christoph Baumgartner, Carney Chukwuemeka, Florian Grillitsch, Konrad Laimer, Marcel Sabitzer, Xaver Schlager, Nicolas Seiwald, Romano Schmid, Alessandro Schöpf, Paul Wanner, Patrick Wimmer
Forwards: Marko Arnautovic, Michael Gregoritsch, Sasa Kalajdzic
–IANS
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