'Invisible man' to Spain's 'most decisive player' - Oyarzabal the hero again
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- Mikel Oyarzabal scored twice in Spain's 3-0 last-32 win over Austria, taking his tally to four goals at the tournament and 17 in his last 16 international starts
- Oyarzabal became the first Spanish player to score twice in a World Cup knockout match since Emilio Butragueno against Denmark at the 1986 tournament
- Lamine Yamal's dribbling draws defenders and unsettles backlines, creating the space Oyarzabal exploits, per former Germany midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger
- Oyarzabal is a one-club man at Real Sociedad and traces his goal-scoring instinct to his youth playing field hockey, saying he can 'smell goals'
- Spain extended their unbeaten run to 34 games — one short of their all-time record — after a goalless opening draw with Cape Verde
- Spain will face either Portugal or Croatia in the last 16, with former England striker Dion Dublin saying they 'have more gears to go through'
- Erling Haaland (22) is the only European player with more international goals than Oyarzabal since the start of last year
Why it matters: Spain's first knockout World Cup win since 2010, combined with a 34-game unbeaten run, positions them as serious contenders to follow up Euro 2024 — but the team only finds full gear against top opposition, per pundit Dublin, making the last-16 clash with Portugal or Croatia the real test of whether the 3-0 was a gear-shift preview or a ceiling.
