Spain and Austria are each seeking a Hollywood ending in the FIFA World Cup 2026 and their next act takes them to Los Angeles Stadium for a Round of 32 affair.
Round of 32
Friday, 3 July | Los Angeles Stadium
Kick-off time
03:00 (GMT+8)
The match
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.
The winner of this one advances to a Round of 16 date with either Portugal or Croatia at Dallas Stadium on 6 July.
Spain possible starting XI
Unai Simon; Marcos Llorente, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella; Rodri, Pedri; Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo, Baena; Oyarzabal
Austria possible starting XI
A. Schlager; Posch, Lienhart, Alaba, Laimer; Seiwald, X. Schlager; Schmid, Gregoritsch, Sabitzer; Kalajdzic
What they said…
“We obviously know what kind of team we’re up against. Spain have a huge amount of quality. Individuals who can decide games. We’re not going to shy away from that. We know our qualities, we know our strengths. If we bring them to the pitch, we can take on a team like theirs, and maybe even beat them. That is our goal, of course. We’re going to throw everything at winning. We know anything is possible in football.” David Alaba, Austria captain
“They’re full of outstanding technical players… and we have to make sure we keep finding ways. We’ll need a top performance. In that sense we haven’t been at our best over the past three matches… We’ve already played the reigning world champions [Argentina] and now we are playing the reigning European champions. We’ve got nothing to lose and a great deal to gain.” Ralf Rangnick, Austria coach
“Austria is a very aggressive, very determined team, with very high pressure, even including elements of man-to-man defense. What that shows is that it’s going to be a game with a lot of one-on-one battles, about winning those battles on both offense and defense. If a team drops back and plays close to its own area, there’s no choice but to move the ball around a lot, with great precision. Our opponents demand more and more precision every day. Let’s hope that little by little, with all the talent we have, we’ll start to play our best football.” Luis de la Fuente, Spain coach
Los Angeles Stadium
Los Angeles Stadium is the newest venue chosen to host FIFA World Cup 2026™, having opened in September 2020. It is situated just a 30-minute drive from Pasadena’s famous Rose Bowl Stadium, which hosted the World Cup final in 1994. Both the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers play their NFL fixtures at the venue, which also hosted Super Bowl LVI as the Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 in 2022. Los Angeles Stadium has already hosted a number of concerts under its iconic and unique roof, with Taylor Swift, BTS and Ed Sheeran among the artists to have graced the venue.