Reigning European Champions, Spain, were able to secure all three points in their 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifier debut over Bulgaria at the National Sports Academy Vasil Levski. The visitors, led by coach Luis de la Fuente, dominated possession, shots and play completing a total of 820 passes against Bulgaria’s 222 passes, and eventually went home with three points and three goals from Mikel Oyarzabal, Marc Cucurella and Mikel Merino. Spain now tops their group ahead of Turkiye, Georgia and Bulgaria.
Match Action
Spain featured Simon in goal with Cucurella, Huijsen, Le Normand and Porro in the back line. In midfield were Zubimendi, Merino and Pedri while going forward, the was Williams in the left wing, Oyarzabal in center and Yamal on the right wing.
Meanwhile Bulgaria had Vutsov in goal behind Nedyalkov, Dimitrov, Tsenov and Nurnberger. They had Kirilov play wide from the left wing while Minkov played from the right wing leaving Kolev in the center-forward position. In midfield they had Chochev, Gruev and Panayotov.
Assisted by Martin Zubimendi, Mikel Oyarzabal opened scoring 5 minutes into the game with a powerful left footed shot past Vutsov giving Spain the lead. 25 minutes later, Dimitrov intercepted a cross aimed at the box, but Marc Cucurella was able to react first to claim the loose ball which he sent past the goalkeeper Vutsov to give Spain a two goal cushion.
Spain kept on looking dangerous and almost tripled their lead with a shot by Pedri which was blocked by Kristian Dimitri. After two failed attempts by Lamine Yamal to find a teammate with a cross, he was able to send a cross through to Mikel Merino who headed the ball into the back of the net to put the visitors three goals ahead with just 7 minutes of playing time left in the first half. Another powerful shot by Lamine Yamal from outside the box was easily stopped by goalkeeper Svetoslav Vutsov. Shortly afterwards, Fabian Nürnberger could have cost Bulgaria another goal deficit with a defensive blunder but Mikel Merino’s shot is hacked off the goal line.
Three minutes into the second half, a defensive blunder by Bulgaria’s Kristian Dimitrov could have cost his team but a good effort by Yamal was saved by the goalkeeper.
The away side maintained pressure until the 77th minute when Bulgaria almost pulled one back as Anton Nedyalkov won possession for his team which led to a counterattack, but this amounted to nothing as Vladimir Nikolov was flagged offside.
Spain will take a trip to Türkiye on Sunday 7th September. With both teams having three points after their opening games, Spain hopes to secure their spot on the table over Türkiye who are currently placed second based on goal difference.
