They wrote history before the beginning. Then they came out and justified every word.Lamine Yamal was named man of the match as Spain beat Austria 3-0 in their round of 16 clash at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Friday, securing their place in the round of 16 in emphatic fashion. But apart from the result, the night will be remembered for a record that no pair of Spanish teenagers has ever achieved before and for a record that football took back until 1958 to find a comparison.Yamal and his Barcelona team-mate Pau Cubarsí became the first pair of teenagers to start a World Cup knockout match for a team since Pelé and José Altafini in 1958 for Brazil against Wales in the quarter-finals. Sixty-eight years between those two moments. The same teenage impudence. A completely different era.Yamal was everywhere during the night. Recovering from a hamstring injury that limited his involvement during the group stage, the 18-year-old Barcelona winger looked sharp, direct and full of confidence against an Austrian back line that simply had no answer to his movement and pace. He was at the center of several of Spain’s best moments, particularly in the first half, bringing the pro-Spain crowd of more than 70,000 off their feet. The only thing missing from a near perfect individual display was a goal, he came agonizingly close with a quick strike in the final minutes that was saved on the line by David Alaba.The goals, when they arrived, belonged to Mikel Oyarzabal. The Real Sociedad forward struck first with the first goal in the 34th minute after good play involving Pedri and Marc Cucurella, and he capped Spain’s dominant victory with another cross from Cucurella and another cool finish past the Austrian goalkeeper. His tally now stands at four goals in this tournament in his last 16 games for Spain.On the other hand, Cubarsí was equally commanding. Cubarsí was part of a Spain defense that has yet to concede a goal at this year’s World Cup, with Unai Simón keeping his fourth consecutive goal.Thursday’s result was Spain’s first knockout win at the World Cup since they beat the Netherlands in the 2010 final. After a group stage exit in 2014 and knockout defeats in the first round in 2018 and 2022, the reigning European champions are finally showing what they are truly capable of.In 1958, Pelé and Altafini were teenagers who helped conquer the world for Brazil. In 2026, Yamal and Cubarsí are just getting started, and Spain, right now, looks set to follow them all the way to the finals.
