The round of 32 rolls on at the 2026 FIFA Men\u2019s World Cup with more surprises in store as teams with different styles and different expectations will square off. The day begins in Los Angeles, where one of the pre-tournament favorites in Spain will take on an Austria team that will be looking to relentlessly press its way to a upset.<\/p>\n
The tournament then shifts to Toronto, where Croatia and Portugal meet in a game that will be highlighted by a clash of two of the game\u2019s best players over the past two decades in Cristian Ronaldo and Luka Modri\u0107.<\/p>\n
The tournament remains in Canada for the day\u2019s final game in Vancouver, where an improving Switzerland will take on an explosive Algeria team that takes a lot of risks and plays on the edge.<\/p>\n
Here is all you need to know for Thursday at the World Cup.<\/p>\n
When: Thursday, July 2, 3 p.m. ET<\/strong><\/p>\n Where: Los Angeles<\/strong><\/p>\n TV: FOX<\/strong><\/p>\n Stream: <\/strong>Watch three days free on FOX One<\/strong><\/p>\n As one of the tournament\u2019s leading contenders, Spain will get its knockout campaign underway on Thursday afternoon when it takes on Austria at Los Angeles Stadium.<\/p>\n After being held to a stunning 0-0 draw by Cape Verde in its group stage opener, it has been smooth sailing for Spain, which is yet to concede a goal at the tournament. Following the Cape Verde result, Luis de la Fuente\u2019s team defeated Saudi Arabia 4-0 and Uruguay 1-0 to win the group.<\/p>\n The biggest concern for Spain entering this game is that wingers Nico Williams and Yeremy Pino are not expected to start due to injuries sustained in the win over Uruguay. Obviously, that will place an increased burden on budding superstar Lamine Yamal and Atl\u00e9tico Madrid mainstay Alex Baena to provide width to the Spanish attack and combine with center forward Mikel Oyarzabal. But beyond them, the options are limited.<\/p>\n Lamine Yamal playing for Spain. (Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n Spain\u2019s strength, however, is in its midfield triangle of Pedri, Rodri, and Mikel Merino, who are among the best in the world in possession.<\/p>\n But this game will be a clash of styles. Under manager Ralf Rangnick, Austria presses intensely and relentlessly. If Austria ever loses possession, its players immediately press in an attempt to win the ball back quickly.<\/p>\n It will be a huge test for either team to pull off its game plan. Austria will attempt to force turnovers from the best-possession national team in the world, while Spain rarely presses as much as what the Austrians will attempt in this game.<\/p>\n Austria\u2019s style of play has the team frequently walking a thin line between success and failure because if the press is ineffective, opponents typically have space to exploit. But this risky approach nearly cost the team dearly against Algeria in the group stage finale. In that game, Austria squandered two leads and then fell behind in stoppage time only to find a last-minute equalizer to advance.<\/p>\n Rangnick\u2019s team is very much living on borrowed time at this World Cup. If Austria is going to pull off a stunning upset in this game, Marko Arnautovic will have to play a key role. The 37-year-old center forward has been dealing with an injury that has limited his involvement to no more than 45 minutes in any game. But he has been excellent whenever on the field, having scored two very important goals and served as the team\u2019s emotional leader.<\/p>\n Player to Watch<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Forward \u00b7\u00a0Spain<\/p>\n The Atl\u00e9tico Madrid man has been sharp in Spain\u2019s last two games, both wins, and was the Man of the Match after scoring a goal in the 1-0 win over Uruguay. In a game against a pressing team, Baena will have the opportunity to exploit space if he can maintain possession under pressure. Baena is playing well and should be a key to Spain\u2019s attack against Austria.<\/p>\n When: Thursday, July 2, 7 p.m. ET<\/strong><\/p>\n Where: Toronto<\/strong><\/p>\n TV: FOX<\/strong><\/p>\n Stream: <\/strong>Watch three days free on FOX One<\/strong><\/p>\n Portugal and Croatia will meet on Thursday at Toronto Stadium in one of the most star-studded games in this World Cup\u2019s round of 32. At front and center will be an emotional battle between two legendary former Real Madrid teammates in Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modri\u0107 who are both fighting to keep alive their final hope of winning a World Cup.<\/p>\n Neither team has been convincing during the group stage. Portugal was held to lackluster draws by DR Congo and Colombia while only defeating debutants Uzbekistan 5-0.<\/p>\n Cristiano Ronaldo playing for Portugal (Photo by Rico Brouwer\/Soccrates\/Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n But many eyes will be on Modri\u0107 and Ronaldo, two iconic players who are now over 40. Ronaldo will be playing in his ninth career World Cup knockout but is still searching for his first goal in this stage of the tournament. Modri\u0107 is the midfield engine and is coming off a great performance in the win over Ghana where he was everywhere on both sides of the ball. But doing that against Portugal will require an even higher level.<\/p>\n Player to Watch<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Midfielder \u00b7\u00a0Portugal<\/p>\n In a game such as this with contrasting styles, both teams will be looking have the game played on their terms. For Portugal, that begins with Fernandes who is the engine of the team\u2019s midfield. He is very direct and plays the game with a lot of energy. He will not want to let Croatia slow the game down and become choppy. Portugal struggled against Colombia in the group stage finale, but Fernandes was at the heart of Portugal\u2019s best moments.<\/p>\n When: Thursday, July 2, 11 p.m. ET<\/strong><\/p>\n Where: Vancouver<\/strong><\/p>\n TV: FS1<\/strong><\/p>\n Stream: <\/strong>Watch three days free on FOX One<\/strong><\/p>\n After both Switzerland and Algeria had uneven campaigns in their respective World Cup group stages, the two teams will meet on Thursday at Vancouver Stadium in the round of 32.<\/p>\n Switzerland began the tournament with a very poor performance in a 1-1 draw with Qatar but since then, Murat Yakin\u2019s squad has been on the rise with a convincing 4-1 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina followed by a 2- win over cohosts Canada.<\/p>\n Algeria, meanwhile, have been all over the place in its first three games of the tournament. The lopsided loss to Argentina was expected in the opening game, but the Desert Foxes needed to come from behind in the second half to defeat Jordan 2-1 and then get a result in a wild 3-3 draw with Austria where Algeria came from behind twice, but then blew a lead late to settle for a point.<\/p>\n Riyad Mahrez, the veteran captain for Algeria. (Photo by Nick Tre. Smith\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" POPULAR SEARCHES BROWSE BY The round of 32 rolls on at the 2026 FIFA Men\u2019s World Cup with more surprises in store as teams with different styles and different expectations will square off. The day begins in Los Angeles, where one of the pre-tournament favorites in Spain will take on an Austria team that will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":5944,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5945\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}