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Spain and Austria will face each other in the round of 32 of the on Thursday, July 2 at the , in a matchup that will be only the second between the two teams in the history of a World Cup.
Spain arrived at the crossover as the undisputed leader of Group H, with 7 points and a goal line unbroken throughout the group stage. The Spanish team started with a goalless draw against Cape Verde, then crushed Saudi Arabia 4-0, and concluded their group stage participation with a 1-0 victory against Uruguay last Thursday at the Akron Stadium in Guadalajara.
In the match against Saudi Arabia, Lamine Yamal opened the scoring in the 10th minute with his first goal in a World Cup, becoming the youngest goalscorer for Spain in World Cup history at 18 years and 343 days. Mikel Oyarzabal finished off the rout with a brace in that same match.
Austria, for its part, qualified as second in Group J with 4 points and a goal difference of zero, in a group stage marked by inconsistency. The team led by Ralf Rangnick won 3-1 against Jordan in their debut, lost 0-2 to Argentina, and this Saturday had a thrilling 3-3 draw with Algeria in Kansas City, where Sasa Kalajdzic scored the equalizer in the 90th minute to secure qualification.
That result against Algeria at Arrowhead Stadium confirmed Austria's advancement to the knockout stage for the first time since Spain 1982, a historic milestone for the Central European team, which had not won a World Cup match since Italy 1990.
The history between the two teams heavily favors Spain: 9 victories, 3 draws, and 4 losses in 16 matches. The last encounter was in November 2009, when Spain won 5-1 in Vienna. The only previous meeting in a World Cup final stage was in Argentina 1978, when Austria surprised with a 2-1 victory.
The winner of the match on July 2 will advance to the round of 16, the next stage of this expanded World Cup featuring 48 teams, which for the first time in its history includes a round of 32.
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