Mikel Oyarzabal's 2 goals send dominant Spain past Austria 3-0 and into round of 16 at the World Cup

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Although Spain arrived at this year's World Cup as a championship favorite and then went unbeaten through group play, those first three matches weren't overly impressive.

When the knockout rounds finally arrived Thursday, this star-studded team turned on its full talent and served notice that Spain can be just as good as everybody thought — and it's probably getting better.

Mikel Oyarzabal scored two goals and Spain beat Austria 3-0 for its first World Cup victory in a knockout match since winning the title in 2010.

Pedro Porro added a goal in the second half as La Roja put on its most impressive performance of the tournament while demonstrating offensive creativity and defensive rigor throughout its vaunted lineup.

“The great teams step up when it’s needed,” Spain coach Luis De La Fuente said. “We played a great match. We came close to perfection, but we must keep improving.”

While Oyarzabal, fullback Marc Cucurella and winger Lamine Yamal all had sensational moments in attack, Spain also has yet to allow a goal at this year's World Cup. Austria failed to get a shot on target, so Unai Simón didn't have to make a save while keeping his fourth consecutive clean sheet and setting a World Cup record with 519 consecutive shutout minutes dating back to the last tournament in Qatar.

Everybody in a red shirt was happy after a dominant day in the Los Angeles area — but nobody was satisfied, either.

“I’m happy to have helped the team for us to go through another round,” Oyarzabal said. “Now just rest and get ready for the next one. It was a complicated match. We knew that it was going to be difficult against a very physical team, but we had a very good day and played a good match.”

La Roja will next face the winner of Portugal’s match against Croatia in Dallas on Monday in the round of 16.

Yamal had four of Spain’s 10 shots on goal while getting wild cheers from the pro-Spanish sellout crowd at SoFi Stadium. The 18-year-old Barcelona sensation played his longest stretch of the tournament before coming off in the 85th minute, moments after Austria defender David Alaba deflected Yamal’s hard shot off the goal line.

Spain got its marquee offense from Oyarzabal, the Real Sociedad captain who has four goals at this year's World Cup by opening the scoring in the 36th minute and clinching the victory in the 89th. Cucurella had assists on both of Oyarzabal's goals, demonstrating an excellent connection from the left side.

“Our only focus is to remain thinking that we need to exceed our own expectations,” De La Fuente said. “Today’s match is just the prelude to what’s next, because in the next match we will try to play even better. We have wonderful players. Their behavior, their attitude, their talent is insurmountable.”

Goalkeeper Alexander Schlager made six saves in an outstanding performance for Austria, which reached the knockout rounds of its first World Cup since 1998 by squeaking out a late draw with an injury-time goal against Algeria. Coach Ralf Rangnick’s team hasn’t won a knockout match at the World Cup since 1954.

“I cannot remember any unforced error they made,” Rangnick said of Spain. “I think they showed us their best performance. I would dare to say we did not only meet the European champion, but possibly the next world champion. If you want to win it, you need to win against Spain. But if we had a lucky punch, we could have had a chance.”

Spain is firmly back in World Cup contention for the first time since winning it all in South Africa 16 years ago. La Roja lost two knockout matches and got eliminated in the group stage over the past three World Cups.

But Spain is now unbeaten 35 straight competitive matches since March 2023. La Roja won the 2023 Nations League and the 2024 European Championship in that stretch, but also lost the 2025 Nations League final on penalties to Portugal.

Following a cautious start against Austria, Spain unleashed its full attack after the first-half hydration break. Three minutes after Schlager made a diving fingertip save on Oyarzabal’s low shot, the Spain player came unmarked in the penalty area and coolly converted Cucurella's pass.

Spain kept up its pressure after halftime, playing some of its most creative soccer of the tournament. It was rewarded when Álex Baena broke in on the left side and lifted a pass to an unmarked Porro, who banged home an emphatic header for his first international goal.

“People have their opinions, (but) we’ve been doing our job since Day 1," Porro said. "We believe in ourselves, and whatever people on the outside say is fair enough.”

Oyarzabal wrapped it up by converting another sharp pass from Cucurella.

Simón has only had to make four saves in his four straight shutouts. His World Cup shutout streak of 519 minutes broke the tournament record set by Italy great Walter Zenga at the 1990 World Cup in Italy.

Marko Arnautović came on as a second-half substitute for Austria. Rangnick said afterward that the 37-year-old striker had played his final international match.

See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

Spain's Alex Baena (15) challenges for the ball against Austria's Stefan Posch (5) during the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between Spain and Austria in Inglewood, Calif., near Los Angeles, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Austria's Michael Gregoritsch (11) and Spain's Pau Cubarsi go for a header during the World Cup round of 32 soccer match in Inglewood, Calif., near Los Angeles, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Spain's Pedro Porro (12) celebrates scoring his side's 2nd goal with Alex Baena during the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between Spain and Austria in Inglewood, Calif., near Los Angeles, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Marcio J. Sanchez)

Spain's Mikel Oyarzabal celebrates after scoring his side's opening goal during the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between Spain and Austria in Inglewood, Calif., near Los Angeles, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Spain's Mikel Oyarzabal (21) celebrates after scoring his side's opening goal during the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between Spain and Austria in Inglewood, Calif., near Los Angeles, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A former Olympian was indicted Thursday on a felony charge in what President Donald Trump has called vandalism of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, where a renovation project he launched has been riddled with problems.

David Hearn, a former Olympic canoe racer, was indicted on a single count of property destruction in Washington, D.C., court.

District of Columbia U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said Hearn ripped up recently installed sealant on the pool in “a deliberate act” that caused more than $1,000 in damage. She accused him of “forcefully and violently” pulling up the bottom liner “with both hands” and acting belligerently toward an employee who told him to stop.

“This is a case with tremendous evidence,” she said, adding that authorities have made about six other misdemeanor arrests.

In a statement, Democracy Defenders Fund co-founder Norm Eisen and Mary Dohrmann, senior counsel at Washington Litigation Group, said that they represented Hearn and that the charges were “outrageous and should be alarming to every American.” Eisen and Dohrmann construed the case as representative of “the misuse of government power against an ordinary citizen based on a concocted narrative.”

Hearn didn’t immediately return a phone call seeking comment. He previously told The Associated Press that he reached into the pool on June 19 to examine the newly peeled coating. He said he briefly touched a chunk that was still attached to the side of the pool, then let go shortly after a park worker told him to.

“I’m a curious citizen,” Hearn said in a telephone interview last month. “I reached down to see what it felt like. It was very rubbery.”

Hearn, 67, of Bethesda, Maryland, owned a company that made composite materials used to build watercraft.

Saying that he stopped by the pool during a 64-mile bike ride, Hearn said he was detained by National Guard troops and U.S. Park Police for five hours before being released.

Trump said last month that federal authorities made “multiple arrests” of people he accused of vandalizing the Reflecting Pool as he struggled to explain why the $16-million rehabilitation project he launched for the nation’s 250th anniversary seemingly backfired. Without providing any substantiation, he also said vandals dumped fertilizer into the pool and slashed the coating with a box cutter.

In subsequent days, National Guard members and Park Police patrolled the deck around the Reflecting Pool as Trump’s administration faced a self-imposed deadline to fix a botched renovation before the nation’s 250th anniversary celebration. Contractors and federal workers used chemicals and ozone nanobubbles to combat an algae bloom, and Trump has said that problems most likely require draining the pool again for liner repairs.

Kinnard reported from Columbia, S.C.

FILE - American David Hearn, of Bethesda, Md., makes his way through the C1 slalom course, Sept. 17, 2000, at Whitewater Stadium in Penrith, Australia. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara, File)

People take photos of a mother duck and her ducklings at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool Tuesday, June 23, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)

The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is seen, Monday, June 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Workers lay nets in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to catch debris from the Fourth of July fireworks display, Tuesday, June 30, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Signage and security fencing warns of explosives along the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool ahead of July 4th events on the National Mall, Wednesday, July 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)