Five European countries are in action across the three World Cup 2026 round of 32 matches on Thursday night and Friday morning.
Spain and Austria get us underway at 8pm (all times UK) at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, with the winner going through to the last-16 where they’ll face either Portugal or Croatia, who lock horns at midnight at the BMO Field in Toronto.
Staying in Canada, we then fast-forward to 4am on Friday morning for the clash between Switzerland and Algeria at BC Place in Vancouver, with the winner facing either Colombia or Ghana in the next round.
Here are the key World Cup 2026 stats ahead of today’s three games.
Key stats for Thursday featuring Spain, Portugal & Cristiano Ronaldo
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Spain vs Austria
- Spain key stat: La Roja are searching for their first knockout stage win since they won the World Cup in 2010.
- Austria key stat: Das Team are looking to win their first knockout stage match in 72 years (1954).
Spain recovered from their surprise goalless draw with Cape Verde by recording consecutive clean-sheet victories over Saudi Arabia and Uruguay to finish top of Group H. Luis de la Fuente’s side are yet to concede at the tournament and have averaged a tournament-high 69.3% possession.
Spain have, remarkably, now gone unbeaten in 33 matches – excluding penalties – stretching back to March 2024, while they have lost one of their last 12 World Cup matches in 90 minutes since 2014 when they bowed out in the group stages.
However, they have, surprisingly, not won a knockout stage match at the World Cup since they lifted the trophy in 2010, having exited in the group stage four years later before suffering successive round of 16 eliminations to Russia (2018) and Morocco (2022), both on penalties.
While Spain thrashed Saudi Arabia 4-0 in their second group stage game, that’s the only time they’ve scored more than one goal in their last six World Cup games.
But, one player who has consistently provided an attacking spark is Mikel Oyarzabal, who scored a brace against Saudi Arabia, and has been directly involved in 22 goals across his last 15 starts for his country.
READ – Spain vs Austria: predictions, best bets, odds and stats
Austria, meanwhile, have reached the knockout stages for the first time since finishing third at the 1954 World Cup, after they progressed as runners-up to Argentina in Group J. Das Team do have fond memories of facing Spain in the World Cup, having beaten La Roja 2-1 back during the 1978 group stage, which is the only time they’ve encountered each other at the tournament.
Ralf Rangnick’s side can draw on a return of 10 wins from their last 14 matches in all competitions. Defensive solidity remains a concern, however, with Austria having failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last 12 World Cup fixtures, a run dating back to 1982.
Veteran striker Marko Arnautovic continues to prove that age is just a number. The 37-year-old has already scored twice at this tournament and now stands on the brink of becoming the first Austrian to score 3+ goals at a single World Cup since Hans Krankl netted four in 1978. Fittingly, one of Krankl’s goals came in Austria’s famous 2-1 victory over Spain.
Portugal vs Croatia
- Portugal key stat: Cristiano Ronaldo is searching for his first ever World Cup knockout stage goal, having gone eight games at this stage without finding the back of the net.
- Croatia key stat: Have never lost a World Cup knockout stage match that’s gone into extra-time or penalties (five matches = five wins).
Portugal finished second behind Colombia in Group K with a win and two draws on the board.
It’s fair to say that Portugal’s World Cup knockout stage record is mixed. Since they finished third in 2006 they’ve suffered two round of 16 exits in 2010 and 2018 – either side of a group stage exit in 2010 – and then a quarter-final defeat to Morocco four years ago.
In fact, Portugal have won just two World Cup knockout matches since 1966 and have lost five of their last six knockout fixtures, including the third-place play-off
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a group stage brace against Uzbekistan, which took him to 10 World Cup goals and made him the first player in history to score at six different World Cups.
However, the world’s highest-ever international goalscorer has never scored a knockout stage goal at the World Cup, accumulating 29 shots across eight blank matches.
READ – Portugal vs Croatia: predictions, best bets, odds and stats
Croatia were beaten 4-2 by England in their opening game, but bounced back with wins over Panama and Ghana to seel second spot in Group L.
History tells us that the Checkered Ones come into their own in the World Cup knockout stages, having lost only three of their 12 matches, which includes reaching the final in 2018 and two third-place finishes in 1998 and last time out in 2022 – those three defeats all came against the champions of that edition (France twice & Argentina).
If Portugal fail to get the job done against the Croatians in 90 minutes, then they could be toast. Croatia have never lost any of their five World Cup matches that have gone into extra-time or penalties (4 on penalties & 1 in extra-time): four wins from four penalty shoot-outs is a World Cup record for countries with a 100% record.
Ivan Perisic has scored in each of the last three World Cups, netting twice in 2014, three times in 2018, and once in 2022. The winger still just needs one more goal this time around to move above Davor Suker to seven goals to become his country’s all time leading scorer at World Cups.
Switzerland vs Algeria
- Switzerland key stat: Switzerland are looking to end a shocking run of seven successive World Cup knockout stage defeats dating back to a last-16 replay win in 1938.
- Algeria key stat: The Desert Warriors have failed to win any of their last none matches against European countries at the World Cup.
Switzerland have progressed into the knockout stages for the fourth successive World Cup after they won Group B with seven points. The Swiss have proved difficult to beat in the last 18 months, having lost only one of their last 17 matches, which includes 10 wins.
Yet, they often come unstuck when it really matters, especially at the World Cup where they’ve crushingly lost each of their last seven knockout stage matches dating all the way back to 1938, when they registered a 4-2 win over Germany in a last-16 replay following a 1-1 draw.
READ – Switzerland vs Algeria: predictions, best bets, odds and stats
Something’s got to give as Algeria, who are managed by former Swiss boss Vladimir Petkovic, have yet to win a knockout stage match, losing in extra-time to Germany in 2014 in their only venture out of the group stages.
They’ve not got the best World Cup record against European countries either, having failed to win any of their last nine matches against teams from the continent, which includes five defeats. Although they did come seconds away from beating Switzerland’s neighbours Austria in their final group stage game.
But, like Switzerland, the Desert Warriors don’t lose often. They’ve only been defeated twice in 90 minutes in their last 28 matches, one of which was to World Cup holders Argentina in the group stages.
Skipper Riyad Mahrez scored twice in the 3-3 draw against Austria, meaning he now needs just one more goal to become his country’s outright leading goalscorer in World Cups (three goals).
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