Spain vs Bulgaria
Ok, so here’s the skinny.
Spain have won their opening three World Cup 2026 qualifiers by a combined 11-0 scoreline and are now preparing to flex their muscles once more in a match against a nation that has never defeated them.
What’s more, their opponents Bulgaria are really struggling and shipped six goals at home over the weekend – a result which went down extremely badly in the Eastern European country.
World Cup Qualifiers 2025 highlights for the European champions beckons don’t you think?
Talking Points
A Nations League final defeat to Portugal aside, Spain have been utterly imperious over the past year or so.
That includes leading Group E with nine points to their name, while Bulgaria are without a single point at the bottom of the standings at the halfway point of a short qualifying campaign.
La Roja returned to action after the summer break with a dominant 3-0 away win over Bulgaria in their opening World Cup qualifier, before they thrashed Turkey 6-0 in their second outing of the September international window.
Luis de la Fuente’s then side extended their perfect start to World Cup qualifying with a 2-0 victory over Georgia in Saturday’s outing at the Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero in Elche.
By contrast, it seems as though Bulgaria are already out of the running for their first World Cup appearance since 1998.
They lost both of their opening two qualifiers against Spain and Georgia by a 3-0 scoreline, leading to the departure of Ilian Iliev after nearly two years at the helm.
His successor, Aleksandar Dimitrov, then made a forgettable start to his tenure with a heavy 6-1 defeat in Saturday’s home clash against Turkey.
The game appeared to be finely poised at one goal apiece at half-time, before they shipped five goals in a disastrous second period.
Dimitrov will have attacker Kiril Despodov fit to don the captain’s armband once again after making his first international appearance since March at the weekend.
Yet even against a home team missing the likes of Dean Huijsen, Rodri, Dani Olmo and Lamine Yamal, it is hard to envisage anything other than Viva España.
History
No one of a Bulgarian persuasion will thank you for referring to their first ever meeting.
It was an international friendly in May 1933 and the Spanish emerged 13-0 (yes, you did read that correctly), winners in Madrid.
The first scorer that day was a player by the name of Eduardo Gonzalez ‘Chacho’ and other marksmen included Julio Antonio Elicegui, who helped himself to a hat-trick, and Luis Regueiro who grabbed a brace.
They didn’t meet again until another friendly in 1985, Spain winning again but this time by a much closer 2-0, this time in Valencia.
Their first ever competitive meeting was at Euro 96, a group stage game at Elland Road in Leeds which finished 1-1.
That burst into life in the final quarter, with both sides having a man dismissed soon after scoring.
The predatory Hristo Stoichkov looked to have laid the platform for an impressive Bulgaria victory when he converted a penalty just before the hour.
That was as good as it got for Dimitar Penev’s team, though, with Petar Hubchev’s 72nd-minute dismissal leaving them with an uphill struggle to hold on to their lead.
The equaliser duly arrived from Alfonso Pérez soon after, though Juan Antonio Pizzi was then also shown a red card to leave both sides a man down for the final quarter of an hour.
When they met at the same stage of the World Cup in France two years later, three goals in the final 10 minutes meant Spain eventually ran out 6-1 winners.
Spain edged a friendly in 2002 and they didn’t meet again until last month, when the European champions netted three times without reply, all in the first 38 minutes.
Three players who ply their trade in the Premier League and in London were the marksmen with Mikel Oyarzabal, Marc Cucurella and Mikel Merino grabbing the goals.
Overall, the record reads five Spanish victories, one draw, no Bulgaria successes.
Betting Tip
At the time of writing, the SBOTOP World Cup qualifier 2025 betting odds for this fixture are not online but don’t forget to check back to see if you can spot a shock away win or draw, however unlikely it may appear.
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