By Olaitan Ibrahim
Spain booked their ticket to the 2026 World Cup with a 2-2 draw against Turkey in their final qualifier on Tuesday to top Group E.
Turkey finished second and will compete in the play-offs after they became the first team to force Luis de la Fuente’s Euro 2024 champions to drop points.
Dani Olmo fired Spain ahead but Deniz Gul and Salih Ozcan struck for Turkey as the hosts conceded their first goals in the qualification process.
Mikel Oyarzabal hit back to equalise in Seville for a Spain team looking to win football’s biggest prize for the second time.
Spain scored 21 goals in qualifying while conceding just twice and have not tasted defeat in a national record 31 consecutive games.
However, that run includes a 2-2 Nations League final draw with Portugal after extra-time in June, with Spain losing on penalties.
Turkey showed De la Fuente’s side are not flawless, although Spain were missing several key players, including Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams and Rodri.
“There’s a lot of work to do and time to think about a lot of things, but we will prepare well,” said De la Fuente, who was upset by Barca star Yamal undergoing treatment on a groin injury which ruled him out of the final qualifiers.
“I hope I can count on all the players to be able to take the best players that we have in Spain to compete in and try to win this beautiful competition,” he added.
They knew to reach a 13th consecutive World Cup all they had to do was avoid defeat by a seven-goal margin, which was never on the cards, and might have triumphed if not for some inspired goalkeeping by Manchester United stopper Altay Bayindir.
“We wanted to finish with a win and a clean sheet, so it’s bitter-sweet… but we’re happy to qualify for the World Cup,” Olmo told TVE.
“They had chances and we did too, there could have been more goals.”