An advertisement featuring Spain’s star forward Lamine Yamal is displayed on a building near SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, showcasing his incredible dribbling, speed, and spectacular goal-scoring ability. Yet the Barcelona superstar, one of the most prominent faces of this World Cup, has not yet produced his best on the tournament stage.
Yamal did not play a full 90 minutes in any of Spain’s three group matches. That is why the football world is eagerly waiting for a Yamal show against Austria in the round of 32.
But a troubling statistic looms. The winners of the 2006, 2010, and 2014 World Cups — Italy, Spain, and Germany — have all failed to win a single knockout match at any World Cup since their title triumphs. Spain’s golden generation swept three consecutive major tournaments — Euro 2008, the 2010 World Cup, and Euro 2012 — but since then, they were eliminated in the group stage in 2014 as defending champions, and lost on penalties to Russia in 2018 and Morocco in 2022.
Spain’s midfielder Fabian Ruiz acknowledged the concern after Germany’s shock exit to Paraguay: “We can see that any team can beat any team right now. I think we are prepared for this and we are looking forward to the match.”
Spain started this tournament with a goalless draw against Cape Verde before finding their stride with wins over Saudi Arabia and Uruguay to top Group H. Austria’s path was more dramatic — they beat Jordan, lost 2-0 to Argentina, and qualified with a thrilling 3-3 draw against Algeria.
As reigning European champions, Spain’s goal is to break a 16-year knockout-round drought at the World Cup. Whether Yamal can provide the spark remains the tournament’s most anticipated question.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report