World Cup LIVE: Spain face Austria before blockbuster Croatia vs Portugal clash

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Spain players in training ahead of their clash with Austria
Spain players in training ahead of their clash with AustriaFrederic J. Brown / AFP / AFP / Profimedia

Day 22 is the penultimate day of the World Cup last-32 before the Round of 16 takes centre stage over the weekend, and it is dominated by Europe. Lamine Yamal's Spain take centre stage before Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal; this is not a day you want to miss.

Today's matches:

Spain vs Austria - 21:00 CET

Portugal vs Croatia - 01:00 CET

Switzerland vs Algeria - 05:00 CET

Live updates:

18:00 CET - One of the stories of this World Cup undoubtedly has been Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi still delivering for their nations on the world stage despite being in the twilight of their careers.

Flashscore decided to write a deep dive into exactly how important both have been and compare which is more influential to their nation:

Portugal and Argentina still relying on Ronaldo and Messi - but to what effect?

15:08 CET - We have plenty of features for you to read ahead of the action which gets underway later today:

What to expect as Portugal and Croatia come face-to-face in a Round of 32 shoot-out

One of the best defenders at the World Cup, Pau Cubarsi has been Spain's silent weapon

Petar Sucic: The ‘anti star’ shining in Croatia’s midfield at the World Cup

Harry Kane answers big-game questions as England overcome serious D.R. Congo scare

13:00 CET - Good afternoon and welcome to what feels like a big day at the 2026 World Cup. It is a day when European stars take centre stage and the question is posed to Lamine Yamal: Can he join fellow superstars Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland by taking this tournament by storm and delivering on the world stage? 

World Cup 2026: Spain - Cape Verde (video preview)
Flashscore

We will find out during the 90 minutes or longer of Spain vs Austria, after a long wait for day 22 to get underway. If Lamine does deliver or not, however, a day when Spain and Portugal are both in World Cup action is a good one and one to look forward to tremendously.

As always, take a look at our daily highlights piece here and relive all of yesterday's drama here