UEFA World Cup Qualifying: Spain Takes Down Bulgaria Early

The Spanish took down their hosts in fine fashion for their first win in Group E for World Cup Qualifying

Sofia, BUL- After their UEFA Nations League Final for Spain, they would prepare for their sprint to reach the top of the group and qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Their first of six matches would start at the Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia, as they took on Bulgaria. After the full 90 minutes were played, the Bulgarians were no match as the Spaniards took them down inside the first 37 minutes of the match, winning by a final score of three goals to nil.

Pretty passing leads to a fabulous goal

The fireworks began quickly with Spain attacking the Bulgarian area, and it was done with pretty passing like a surgeon does during a medical operation. Precise and clean movement with a scalpel. It started at the near side with Lamine Yamal along the near side. Then he made a strong pass outside the top of the area to Martin Zubimendi, then another pass to Pedri Gonzalez.

Gonzalez would find Mikel Oyarzabal on the far side of the area, and all he had to do was move into position and fire his shot past Svetoslav Vustov for the early goal in the fifth minute. The way the ball went around so fast, you couldn’t believe how quickly they worked that ball around the area to convert on that score.

Taking Advantage of a poor clearance

While the match did calm down a bit after the opening goal, Bulgaria tried to pull one back, but Radoslav Kirilov’s shot hit the Spanish defender and hit the far post, just missing the equalizer. But Spain got help when they attacked Bulgaria’s net. An attempted clearance was redirected toward Marc Cucurella, and when he settled the ball, he took a big shot to convert the second goal of the match in the 30th minute.

Corner Advantage

Spain would earn a corner at the near side. Their final goal of the first half and the match was when Yamal went behind the ball, took the running start, and delivered a fantastic cross to the middle of the area. Then, out of nowhere, you saw Mikel Merino sneaking into a space around three Bulgarian defenders and heading the ball in at the 37th minute.

Second Half Defense

Even though Spain continued to attack the Bulgarian net, their defense was very strong. In fact, their goalkeeper, Unai Simon, wasn’t busy at all. He wasn’t challenged much in the closing half as his backline and the team made sure that Bulgaria wouldn’t sneak in a goal to force an issue, unlike what happened in the other Group E match when Turkiye was leading three-nil, until a red card came into play, putting them down to ten men and allowing Georgia to pull two goals back.

Strong start for the Spanish as they will take on Turkiye on the road for their second consecutive match during the September International Window.

UEFA World Cup Qualifying News

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