New Delhi, July 3 -- LOS ANGELES - For six minutes, Austria dared to believe. Marc Cucurella's low finish crossed the line in the 30th minute, the Spanish bench rose, and the 70,000 inside SoFi Stadium tensed, then the VAR monitors lit up, the goal was ruled out for a foul on the Austrian goalkeeper, and the crowd leaned back. Six minutes later, Mikel Oyarzabal scored. The moment that defined this match was not the goal Austria thought they had. It was the six minutes of rising Austrian hope that preceded the goal that actually mattered.

Spain won 3-0. Oyarzabal scored twice, and Pedro Porro added a second-half goal that made the scoreline as comfortable as the contest felt. The European champions are through to the round of 16 without c...