Spain Equal 31-Game Unbeaten Record To Reach 2026 World Cup

Spain clinched automatic qualification to the World Cup and equalled a European record despite drawing 2-2 with Turkey in Seville.

Luis de la Fuente’s side finished the campaign top of Group E, having won and kept a clean sheet in five of their six qualifying games.

It took their unbeaten run to 31 matches, matching the mark set by Italy from 2018 to 2021.

Second-placed Turkey needed to win by a seven-goal margin against the European champions to secure the top spot in the group.

While they showed tremendous spirit and fight, they had to settle for a playoff spot in March, where their first opponents will be either Northern Ireland, Sweden, Romania, or North Macedonia.

Spain’s unbeaten run consists of 25 wins and six draws. Their last defeat was a 2-0 loss in a European Championship qualifier against Scotland in March 2023, before they went on to win the trophy.

Olmo gave Spain the lead against Turkey when he squeezed the ball home from Marc Cucurella’s cut-back to score his 12th international goal on his first start since March.

But they conceded a first goal of their campaign when Deniz Gul guided the ball past Unai Simon to equalise.

Turkey went ahead on 54 minutes, Salih Ozcan powering a neat effort into the bottom left corner.

But in-form forward Mikel Oyarzabal restored parity with his sixth goal of qualifying, prodding home the rebound after Yeremy Pino’s effort was cleared off the line.

Olmo had chances to double Spain’s lead in the first half but was denied by two good saves from Manchester United goalkeeper Altay Bayindir.

Baris Yilmaz’s acrobatic overhead kick forced a superb save from Simon with the game finely poised at 1-1.

The result means only England will end the European World Cup qualifiers having not conceded a goal.