Today at the World Cup: Ronaldo vs. Modric, Spain face leaky Austria, is there more misery for African nations?

Amongst the three games scheduled to take place, two European legends go head-to-head, while an African nation hopes to end what has been a dismal knockout record for the continent so far this tournament. 

DAZN News previews today's action at the World Cup. 

Spain vs. Austria

• Date: Thursday, July 2
• Kick-off: 8pm BST / 3pm ET / 12pm PT
• Venue: Los Angeles Stadium

Spain kick off today's matches, and while they started out as one of the favourites to win the tournament, the odds may have drifted due to what could be a difficult road to the final which could include France in a potential semi-final. 

Luis de la Fuente's side are yet to concede a goal in this tournament, and Austria's high press style of play could play into Spain's hands who will not get frustrated by a low block. 

If Austria are to have any chance of beating Spain, they cannot afford to concede at will which has been a problem so far. 

Austria are yet to keep a clean sheet and have conceded five goals in their three group games, therefore Ralf Ragnick's players need to find a way to shore up the defence, otherwise they will get picked off by a slick Spain attack. 

---

Pochettino fumes at Balogun sending off: "It was never a red"

Watch: USA boss praises players' reaction after controversary

---

Portugal vs. Croatia

• Date: Thursday, July 2
• Kick-off: 12am BST (July 3) / 7pm ET / 4pm PT
• Venue: Toronto Stadium 

This match sees two football legends go head-to-head, Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo and Croatia's Luka Modric. 

Ronaldo has settled into this tournament after a disapointing performance in his team's opening match, scoring two goals in the 5-0 win against Uzbekistan, but there are still some who question if Portugal are better without him. 

Meanwhile Croatia's Luka Modric is yet to have a significant impact at this World Cup despite being the oldest player to register an assist at the tournament, and when it comes to Croatia's record against Portugal, it does not make for pretty reading. 

Croatia have lost seven of their previous 10 matches against Portugal, so Roberto Martinez's side will be favourites in this Round of 32 tie. 

Switzerland vs. Algeria

• Date: Thursday, July 2
• Kick-off: 4am BST (July 3) / 11pm ET / 8pm PT
• Venue: BC Place Vancouver

Algeria will look to end the African misery at this World Cup against Switzerland in Vancouver. 

So far, no African representative has made it through to the last 16, but Algeria are on a good run of form. Manager Vladimir Petkovic has only one defeat in his last seven matches, and that sole loss was against defending champions Argentina in the group stage. 

However, Switzerland are a team high on confidence. They beat co-hosts Canada 2-1 to finish top Group B, and are never phased by the knockout stages where a win would see them reach the Round of 16 for a fourth successive time. 

Watch World Cup archive, highlights and documentaries for FREE on DAZN

DAZN is the home of FIFA+ , a vast library of football on-demand content including World Cup archive, iconic documentaries, player profiles, live matches and both full match replays and highlights.

Watch it all for FREE on DAZN on smart TVs, phones, tablets, streaming devices, games consoles and web browsers.