At a World Cup dominated by superstars who have tactical systems built around them, Luis de la Fuente’s Spain are showing they have the only thing that is more valuable: a team.Having watched the Netherlands and Germany be eliminated in the round of 32 and seen Belgium and England progress with late-comeback wins, Spain made things look rather straightforward against Austria.Ralf Rangnick’s side had caused Argentina some difficulty in the group stage. Not here. Spain were convincing winners, outshooting them 23-5 and peppering Alexander Schlager’s goal. He kept six efforts out and still ended up on the wrong end of a 3-0 scoreline.This was the first men’s World Cup knockout win for Spain since they were champions in 2010. They went out in the group stages in the following tournament, and in the past two editions, they were eliminated on penalties at the round of 16. Hosts Russia beat them in 2018, and Morocco eliminated them four years ago in Qatar. That day, Spain put up over 1,000 passes and failed to score.All three goals in Austria’s win — the first time Spain scored multiple times in a World Cup knockout match since beating Switzerland 3-0 in 1994 — owed to contributions by their wide defenders.Left-back Marc Cucurella positioned high against the 4-4-2 Austrian block. Rangnick focused on protecting central passes, meaning the spare man would be out wide. Here, Pedri gets the ball from midfield partner Rodri and dribbles forward before finding Cucurella. Winger Alex Baena’s narrowness helped pin Austria right-back Stefan Posch.This triggered the defence to drop, and Cucurella pulled a cutback to striker Mikel Oyarzabal. It’s the same pattern that Argentina used for Lionel Messi’s opening goal when they met Austria in the group stages. Oyarzabal was just as clinical, passing into the far corner.The goal came just after another promising attack down the left, which ended with defender Konrad Laimer intercepting an Oyarzabal cutback to Dani Olmo. The approach play was much the same: Baena narrow and Cucurella high, creating the two-v-one on Posch. Austria were too passive around Rodri, who split the midfield, and Baena threaded Oyarzabal through.De la Fuente clearly cares for traditional Spanish passing principles, though he’s a realist more than an idealist when it comes to tactics. Two years ago, they won Euro 2024 and were the best side on counter-attacks, leaning into the pace they had out wide with Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams.This World Cup, with Yamal still gaining fitness, has been more about their wide triangles.The second goal, a winger to full-back move, showcased those combinations. No 10 Olmo became the link to Baena from Cucurella, who made an underlap after passing forward.This distracted Austria midfielder Paul Wanner and freed up a return pass to Olmo.The margins then went Spain’s way, as Olmo took the pass on his back foot and shot. Florian Grillitsch charged him down, but blocked the effort straight to Cucurella. He controlled it, showed smart footwork to get around Posch, and then put Baena into a crossing position — another two-v-one for Spain against Austria’s right-back.Baena hit the byline and crossed with his left foot for Pedro Porro. The right-back timed his run to crash a header in and double the lead.Oyarzabal added his second and Spain’s third on 89 minutes, putting the gloss on the biggest winning margin by a team in a knockout game this tournament. Austria, made to run by Spain’s 64 per cent possession and 90 per cent pass completion, looked exhausted. Carney Chukwuemeka had the ball popped around him when he gave chase in midfield, and Cucurella was found in space.The left-back crossed low for Oyarzabal, who showed real composure to open his body and glance a right-footed finish into the far corner. Spain are tied with Belgium for the most ground crosses at this World Cup (24), and a brace here puts Oyazarbal on four goals — he’s in the Golden Boot race and, since the start of 2025, the only European to better his 16 international goals is Erling Haaland (22).This very move won Spain the European Championship two years ago, when they played through a half-hearted England press and found Cucurella on the outside. Oyarzabal, having spent the whole tournament up until the final in a substitute role as Alvaro Morata led the line, swept in the low cross.That was De la Fuente’s first tournament. He progressed to the senior team from his role as under-19 and then under-21 coach. Under him, they have lost just three times in 44 matches and boast 10 wins and one draw from 11 major tournament matches. Aime Jacquet and Louis van Gaal are the only European coaches to take charge of more Euros/World Cup games without losing (12 apiece).For all the expectation of Yamal at his debut World Cup, Spain’s wide threats are coming from further downfield. Only three defenders have had more touches in the opposition box than Cucurella (14). So often, teams focus on defending their wingers, leaving the full-backs free to create or convert chances close to goal.When they drew 0-0 against Cape Verde in the opening game, their best chance came from Cucurella’s run in-behind for Rodri’s pass — he set up Ferran Torres for a first-time finish, but he hit the bar.The clip below looks almost identical, with Spain playing a team in all white and Cucurella the extra man for the deep ball. Here, in the build-up to a goal which put them 3-0 up on 22 minutes against Saudi Arabia, Porro picks out his fellow full-back. Cucurella knocks it down for Olmo, and he heads to the far post for Oyarzabal to score.Rangnick was nonplussed in his post-match press conference, fully accepting that they had outclassed his Austria team. “I cannot remember any unforced errors they made. I think it says everything about Spain’s quality,” he said.“We attacked them and challenged them; we were brave, but we could not always prevent this combination tactic. They are a perfect clockwork.”