{"id":251111,"date":"2026-07-02T21:14:55","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T21:14:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/02\/confident-with-him-starting-fans-react-as-spain-star-included-in-xi-to-take-on-austria-in-fifa-world-cup-ro32-clash\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T21:14:55","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T21:14:55","slug":"confident-with-him-starting-fans-react-as-spain-star-included-in-xi-to-take-on-austria-in-fifa-world-cup-ro32-clash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/02\/confident-with-him-starting-fans-react-as-spain-star-included-in-xi-to-take-on-austria-in-fifa-world-cup-ro32-clash\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Confident with him starting&#8221; &#8211; Fans react as Spain star included in XI to take on Austria in FIFA World Cup Ro32 clash"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"5186829\" data-slug-id=\"2803031\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<img data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/cmc-predictor\/v2\/cross-icon.png?w=40\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" alt=\"close\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Spain coach Luis de la Fuente has included midfielder <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/dani-olmo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Dani Olmo <\/a>in the starting XI for their FIFA World Cup match against Austria, a move that has impressed some fans. The reigning European champions are set for their Round of 32 match, having scaled through the group stage without tasting defeat once. <\/p>\n<p>La Roja came into the tournament as one of the favourites, and they got through the group stage with relative ease. Ranked second in the world, their journey through the knockout stages begins with a clash against a plucky Austrian side coached by Ralf Rangnick. <\/p>\n<p><template id=\"template__newsletter-inline-banner-form-combo-widget\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<p><img id=\"subscribe-img\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\nThanks for the submission!\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>Spain coach de la Fuente has entrusted Barcelona star Olmo with only his second start of the tournament, and the fans have reacted to the decision. They took to X to share their thoughts on the midfielder starting. <\/p>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>One fan expressed their confidence in the team&#8217;s chances with Olmo in the XI. <\/p>\n<p>Another fan was also excited, expressing a hope of the midfielder taking up a deeper role.<\/p>\n<p>A fan hailed the selection, stating that Olmo is skilled at playing against teams that defend deep. <\/p>\n<p>Another fan was left feeling excited at the prospect of seeing the chemistry between Olmo, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/lamine-yamal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Lamine Yamal<\/a>, and Pedro Porro on the right side of the pitch. <\/p>\n<p>Dani Olmo has appeared in all three of Spain&#8217;s games at the FIFA World Cup this summer, starting once. The 28-year-old provided an assist in his only start to far, the 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia on Matchday Two. He will hope to provide the imagination and invention against a disciplined Austria side. <\/p>\n<p>De la Fuente has made two changes, bringing in Porro and Olmo as his side pursues a first knockout stage win in the World Cup since 2010. <\/p>\n<h2>Spain star joins exclusive group in FIFA World Cup clash<\/h2>\n<p>Spain star <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/unai-simon\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Unai Simon<\/a> has been named in the starting XI for his country&#8217;s first knockout clash at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, earning a place in his country&#8217;s record books. The Athletic Club man starts between the sticks for a fourth consecutive game in the tournament this summer.<\/p>\n<p>Simon is set to become only the third goalkeeper in the history of La Roja to make 20+ appearances at major tournaments for the team. He joins <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/iker-casillas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Iker Casillas<\/a> (31) and Andoni Zubizarreta (23) in this exclusive group as Spain are set to take on Austria in Los Angeles. <\/p>\n<p>Unai Simon made his international debut in 2020 and has played in every major tournament since, including two editions of the FIFA World Cup. The 29-year-old is set to earn his 62nd cap for La Roja in the game against Austria.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\" title=\"like article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\" title=\"dislike article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\nThank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tag-cloud\">\n<div class=\"tags-text\">\n<div class=\"scrollable-content-holder  article-padding\">\n<p class=\"article-p  \">Quick Links<\/p>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerLeft\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Left \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img style=\"background: none;\" data-lazy=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-left.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button><\/p>\n<nav id=\"pnProductNav\" class=\"pn-ProductNav\">\n<\/nav>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerRight\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Right \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img style=\"background: none;\" data-lazy=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-right.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<p>More from Sportskeeda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Sulayman Salahudeen<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/football\/news-confident-starting-fans-react-spain-star-included-xi-take-austria-fifa-world-cup-ro32-clash\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Spain coach Luis de la Fuente has included midfielder Dani Olmo in the starting XI for their FIFA World Cup match against Austria, a move that has impressed some fans. The reigning European champions are set for their Round of 32 match, having scaled through the group stage without tasting defeat once. La Roja came [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":251112,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6806],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-251111","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gossip"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251111\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}