Cucurella, Yamal Shine as Spain Breeze Past Bulgaria

• Spain beat Bulgaria 3-0 to start World Cup qualifying on a high.
• Bulgaria’s goalkeeper Vutsov made key saves to keep the score down.
• Yamal assisted twice; Rodríguez made senior debut for Spain.

Spain kicked off their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying journey with a convincing 3-0 victory against Bulgaria at the Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia on Thursday night.

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Luis de la Fuente’s side wasted no time making their mark, as early goals from Mikel Oyarzabal, Marc Cucurella, and Mikel Merino gave La Roja a comfortable lead before half-time.

Despite several second-half opportunities to increase the scoreline, Spain were kept at bay by Bulgaria’s goalkeeper Svetoslav Vutsov, who made a number of key saves to prevent further damage.

The result sends Spain to the top of Group E, and they will now prepare for a crucial clash against Turkey on Sunday. Bulgaria, meanwhile, will face Georgia in their next outing.

Match Summary

Both teams looked lively in the opening minutes, but it was the Spaniards who struck first. In just the 5th minute, Lamine Yamal found space on the right and rolled a pass back to Martín Zubimendi at the edge of the box.

The Arsenal midfielder slipped in a clever ball for Oyarzabal, who calmly finished into the bottom corner.

Zubimendi almost got on the scoresheet himself shortly after, but his header was smartly saved by Vutsov.

At the other end, Radoslav Kirilov saw a shot blocked by Pedro Porro, before Yamal tested the Bulgarian goalkeeper again.

Spain doubled their lead on the half-hour mark when Yamal’s cross was only half-cleared, falling kindly for Cucurella.

The Chelsea man wasted no time and smashed a low drive past the helpless Vutsov.

By the 38th minute, Spain made it 3-0. Yamal delivered a corner into the danger zone and Merino was on hand to nod it in from close range.

Merino almost grabbed a second goal before half-time, but Emil Tsenov made a crucial block to keep the scoreline respectable going into the break.

After the restart, Spain continued their attacking push. Vutsov was forced to make excellent stops to deny Yamal and Merino again, even tipping one powerful effort onto the crossbar.

As the second half wore on, Spain maintained control but couldn’t find a fourth goal. Oyarzabal, Merino, Rodri, and Nico Williams all had chances, while 79th-minute substitute Jesús Rodriguez making his Spain debut added fresh legs to the attack.

Bulgaria nearly got a late consolation, but Dean Huijsen made a vital interception to stop Marin Petkov’s goal-bound strike. In the end, Spain closed out a dominant performance.

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