They made history before kickoff. Then they came out and justified every word of it.Lamine Yamal was named Man of the Match as Spain defeated Austria, 3-0 in their Round of 32 match at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Friday, booking their place in the Round of 16 in emphatic fashion. But beyond the scoreline, the night will be remembered for a record that no pair of Spanish teenagers has achieved before and one that takes football back to 1958 to find a comparison.Yamal and Barcelona teammate Pau Cubarsí became the first pair of teenagers to start a World Cup knockout match for a team since Pelé and José Altafini in 1958 for Brazil against Wales in the quarterfinals. Sixty-eight years between those two moments. Same teenage bravado. It was a really different time.Yamal is everywhere at night. Recovering from a hamstring injury that limited his participation in the group stage, Barcelona’s 18-year-old winger looked sharp, direct and full of confidence against an Austrian backline that had no answer to his movement and pace. He was at the center of many of Spain’s best moments, especially in the first half, which captured the pro-Spanish crowd of more than 70,000 people. The only thing missing from an almost perfect individual display was a goal, he came agonizingly close with a snap shot in the dying minutes that was denied by David Alaba’s line.The goals, as they came, belonged to Mikel Oyarzabal. The Real Sociedad striker first found the net with a first-time finish in the 34th minute following a well-developed play involving Pedri and Marc Cucurella, and he put the cap on Spain’s dominant win after a cross from Cucurella and another cool finish by the Austrian goalkeeper. His tally now stands at four goals in this tournament in his last 16 starts for Spain.At the other end, Cubarsí is equally dominant. Cubarsí has been part of a Spain defense that has yet to allow a goal at this year’s World Cup, with Unai Simón keeping his fourth consecutive clean sheet.Thursday’s result was Spain’s first knockout win at the World Cup since they defeated the Netherlands in the 2010 final. After a group-stage exit in 2014 and first-round knockout losses in 2018 and 2022, the reigning European champions have finally shown what they can do.In 1958, Pelé and Altafini were teenagers who helped conquer the world for Brazil. In 2026, Yamal and Cubarsí have just started and Spain, now, looks ready to follow them to the end.