Spain confirmed no mercy in Valladolid as they swept apart Bulgaria 4–0 on the Estadio José Zorrilla on Tuesday evening, simply as Softfootball predicted within the pre-match preview. La Roja continued their good run within the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, and the win retains Luis de la Fuente’s males prime of Group E with 12 factors from 4 video games, whereas Bulgaria’s depressing marketing campaign is now formally over, mathematically eradicated with zero factors.
It was Mikel Merino’s evening as soon as once more. The Arsenal midfielder bagged a brace, each from headers, within the thirty fifth and 57th minutes. The primary got here by way of a gorgeous cross from Pedri, and the second was one other thumping end after an inch-perfect supply by Alejandro Grimaldo. That’s six targets now in 4 qualifiers for Merino red-hot kind for a person not even recognized primarily as a scorer.
Spain dominated early, firing off 18 first-half photographs however nonetheless couldn’t discover the web till Merino broke the impasse earlier than halftime. After the restart, Borja Iglesias twice examined Bulgarian keeper Svetoslav Vutsov earlier than Merino nodded in his second to kill off any hopes of a comeback. The guests’ evening received worse when debutant Atanas Chernev turned Aleix García’s cross into his personal internet within the 79th minute. And in stoppage time, Mikel Oyarzabal, who had been beforehand praised by his supervisor as an entire participant, calmly tucked away a penalty after being introduced down, wrapping up one other ruthless Spanish show.
Spain managed the sport from begin to end, holding almost 78% possession and firing 33 complete photographs. Vutsov did his greatest, pulling off eight saves, however the hole in high quality was large. The win equals Spain’s all-time unbeaten run of 29 matches and sends them three factors away from Turkey on the prime of the desk.
After the sport, head coach Luis de la Fuente voiced his satisfaction with the crew’s efficiency as revealed by Spain by way of the crew’s official X account.
They posted:
For Bulgaria, this was one other tough evening in a run that’s turned ugly. After the 6–1 drubbing by Turkey, Aleksandar Dimitrov made eight modifications, however nothing modified the place it mattered most, the scoreboard. Despodov had a uncommon likelihood halfway by way of the second half that might’ve given them one thing to cheer about, however his effort rolled inches vast of Unai Simón’s publish.
By the point Oyarzabal buried the penalty, it was nearly harm management for the guests. Spain has now scored 15 targets with out conceding on this qualifying marketing campaign. Bulgaria, in the meantime, has misplaced 5 on the bounce with a staggering 20–1 mixture.
At this level, it’s laborious to see anybody slowing La Roja down.
