Spain sealed automatic qualification for the 2026 World Cup, equalling a European record despite being held to a 2-2 draw by Turkey in Seville.
Luis de la Fuente’s side finished top of Group E, having won and kept a clean sheet in five of their six qualifying matches.
The result extends their unbeaten run to 31 games, drawing level with the record set by Italy between 2018 and 2021.
Needing a victory by a seven-goal margin to overtake the European champions, second-placed Turkey showed tremendous spirit. However, they had to settle for a play-off spot in March, where their first opponents will be either Northern Ireland, Sweden, Romania, or North Macedonia.
Spain’s impressive unbeaten streak now consists of 25 wins and six draws. Their last defeat was a 2-0 loss to Scotland in a European Championship qualifier back in March 2023, before they went on to win the tournament.
Dani Olmo gave Spain the lead against Turkey, squeezing the ball home from Marc Cucurella’s cut-back to score his 12th international goal on his first start since March.
However, Spain then conceded their first goal of the entire qualifying campaign when Deniz Gül guided the ball past Unai Simón to equalise. Turkey went ahead on 54 minutes, with Salih Özcan powering a neat effort into the bottom left corner.
In-form forward Mikel Oyarzabal then restored parity with his sixth goal of the qualifiers, prodding home the rebound after Yeremy Pino’s effort was cleared off the line.
Earlier, Olmo had chances to double Spain’s lead in the first half but was denied by two excellent saves from Manchester United goalkeeper Altay Bayındır. Barış Yılmaz also forced a superb save from Simón with an acrobatic overhead kick when the game was poised at 1-1.
The result means only England will end the European World Cup qualifiers without having conceded a goal.
