Perfect Spain on brink of World Cup qualification


Mikel Oyarzabal scored twice as Spain maintained their perfect form in World Cup qualifying with a 4-0 win in Georgia on Saturday as it closed in on a berth at next year's showpiece tournament.

Luis de la Fuente's side has scored 19 times while conceding zero goals in five group victories.

The European champions are poised to wrap up a spot in the finals when they meets Turkey on Tuesday in their last qualifier.

Spain lead Group E by three points over Turkey, who beat Bulgaria 2-0 on Saturday.


The only way the Turks could pip Spain for the top spot and grab a direct ticket to the World Cup would be by winning in Seville by a huge margin.

A tiebreaker would be decided by goal difference. Spain are on +19, while Turkey are on +5.

"Out of respect for our opponents ... we have to keep our feet on the ground and maintain this attitude until it's mathematically secured," Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said.

"[The perfect record] is a great reason to be proud of these players. I'm lucky to coach players of this calibre, players of this historic stature, and there's still a long way to go."

The home side didn't miss injured stars Lamine Yamal, Pedri or Rodri against the overmatched Georgia.

The Real Sociedad striker Oyarzabal led Spain with his two goals and an assist. Martín Zubimendi and Ferran Torres also scored as their team was up 3-0 by halftime.

Oyarzabal opened the scoring with a penalty in the 11th minute and headed in the fourth goal in the 63rd. Marcos Llorente cleared a late Georgia shot from the goal-line to protect Spain's run of clean sheets.

Information from ESPN's Alex Kirkland and The Associated Press was used in this report.