World Cup while you were sleeping: Spain cruising, Tuchel eyes ‘Hand of God’ payback
Mikel Oyarzabal double seals a comfortable 3-0 win against Austria for the European champions, who face either Portugal or Croatia next
If it wasn’t obvious before, Spain’s demolition of Austria showed that not everyone at this summer’s tournament is playing the same game.
Certainly Luis de la Fuente’s side, alongside France and Argentina, might consider themselves first among equals, even if the 3-0 victory was their first in the knockout stages of a World Cup since 2010.
Would that England were worthy of joining such exalted company. As it is, faced with a trip to Mexico City in the last 16, manager Thomas Tuchel is already reaching for his prayer beads.
Portugal, meanwhile, need to dispatch Croatia as ruthlessly as their neighbours dealt with Austria to be mentioned in the same breath as the better teams, and that game kicked off at 7am, with Switzerland and Algeria getting under way at 11am.
There are still another three matches in the round of 32 to come after that, with Argentina taking on everyone’s favourite underdog, Cabo Verde, on Friday, but until then, here’s what happened while you were sleeping.
