Spain Seal World Cup Spot After Turbulent Draw With Turkey
Spain Take Early Control
Spain secured automatic qualification for the 2026 World Cup after a dramatic 2–2 draw with Turkey in Seville.
Luis de la Fuente’s side finished top of Group E after winning five of their six matches — all with clean sheets until last night.
La Roja started perfectly. After just four minutes, Marc Cucurella pulled the ball back for Dani Olmo, who squeezed in his 12th international goal on his first start since March.
Turkey End the Perfect Record
Spain’s flawless defensive run finally broke three minutes before half-time.
Deniz Gul reacted quickest inside the box, sliding the ball past Unai Simón to make it 1–1.
The shock grew moments after the restart.
On 54 minutes, Salih Ozcan bent a clinical shot into the bottom corner to silence the stadium and put Spain’s 30-match competitive unbeaten streak at risk.
Oyarzabal Rescues the Leaders
Spain, though rattled, answered.
Mikel Oyarzabal — one of Europe’s form forwards — bundled in an equaliser after Yeremy Pino’s shot was cleared off the line, scoring his sixth goal of qualifying.
Turkey needed a seven-goal win to take top spot, but despite their energy and ambition, they could not break Spain down again and will now head into the play-offs.
Olmo had two more chances to regain the lead but was stopped twice by Manchester United goalkeeper Altay Bayındır.
At the other end, Barış Yılmaz forced Simón into a superb save with an acrobatic overhead kick.
Only England finish European qualifying without conceding a goal.
