Overview
Spain has responded impressively after a penalty shootout defeat in the UEFA Nations League final in June against Portugal.
La Roja quickly returned to the winning track with a 3-0 defeat to Bulgaria in the opening match of the World Cup qualifiers. They continued to show their destructive power with a 6-0 victory over Turkey in the second match in September.
Under the leadership of coach Luis de la Fuente, Spain extended their perfect start in the qualifiers with a 2-0 victory over Georgia at Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero Stadium in Elche last weekend.
Yeremy Pino and Mikel Oyarzabal took turns scoring in two games, helping La Roja score at least 2 goals in 10 consecutive matches - a feat that has only been repeated three times in history.
Having won all 3 of their first matches, the world number one ranked team is leading the group with 3 points more than Türkiye and 6 points more than Georgia, thereby creating a big advantage in the journey towards the 13th consecutive World Cup.
Spain have reason to be confident of winning 3 more points as they have won 5/6 of their most recent matches against Bulgaria, including a narrow 1-0 victory in a friendly match in Madrid in November 2002.
There are 3 more matches to the end of the qualifying round, but Bulgaria's hopes of qualifying for the World Cup for the first time since 1998 have almost disappeared.
The Balkan team had a bad start when losing both opening matches against Spain and Georgia with the same score of 0-3, leading to coach Ilian Iliev having to say goodbye to the team after nearly 2 years of association.
His successor, coach Aleksandar Dimitrov, could not bring improvement when Bulgaria suffered a 1-6 defeat to Turkey at home last weekend.
The match seemed balanced after each team scored one goal in the first half, but the second half became a defensive disaster. Bulgaria conceded 5 consecutive goals, thereby falling to the bottom of Group E and 6 points behind second-placed Turkey.
Bulgaria have now gone 8 consecutive matches without a win since defeating Luxembourg 1-0 in the UEFA Nations League last November (2 draws, 6 losses).
Now, Bulgaria must prepare for the ultimate challenge when facing European champions Spain, in the context that they have conceded at least 2 goals in the last 7 matches.
Personnel situation
Dean Huijsen, Rodri, Dani Olmo and Lamine Yamal all had to withdraw from the Spanish national team ahead of the win over Georgia due to injury concerns.
Most recently, Ferran Torres also left the squad, forcing Luis de la Fuente to consider a replacement. Alex Baena is likely to be given the opportunity to start in the Barcelona striker position.
Meanwhile, Mikel Oyarzabal is expected to continue his impressive form, having scored 6 goals in his last 8 international appearances.
On the other side of the front line, Bulgaria will not have the service of defender Emil Tsenov, who withdrew before the heavy loss to Türkiye.
Kristian Dimitrov is likely to pair up with Rosen Bozhinov as a centre-back, while Ivan Turitsov is struggling to get a starting spot at right-back.
In attack, Kiril Despodov will continue to wear the captain's armband, after returning to play for the national team for the first time since March in the match against Turkey last weekend.
Expected lineup:
Spain: Simon, Porro, Le Normand, Cubarsi, Cucurella, Merino, Zubimendi, Pedri, Pino, Baena, Oyarzabal.
Bulgaria: Mitov, Turitsov, Dimitrov, Bozhinov, Petrov, Chochev, Stoyanov, Kraev, Petkov, Kirilov, Despodov.
The match between Spain and Bulgaria takes place at 1:45 am on October 15 (Vietnam time).
