Spain 4-0 Bulgaria: Merino nets double headers in comfortable win for hosts

Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino scored twice as Spain beat Bulgaria to move closer to qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.

Match Report

Atanas Chernev's own goal and Mikel Oyarzabal's penalty helped Spain to an emphatic victory, with Luis de la Fuente's side now on the cusp of a place in next year's finals after making it four wins from four in Group E.

Samu Aghehowa forced Svetoslav Vutsov into a smart stop at his near post early on, moments before Pedri darted in behind, only to hit the underside of the crossbar with a dinked effort.

Vutsov then made two more important saves to keep out Samu and Oyarzabal, keeping Bulgaria in it as the visitors struggled to make an impact at the other end.

But Spain finally got their breakthrough 35 minutes in when Merino thumped a powerful header looping over the goalkeeper after meeting Robin Le Normand's knockdown.

Spain continued to dominate after the break, with Vutsov tipping Borja Iglesias' attempt wide just before Merino got his second in the 57th minute. The Arsenal midfielder rose high to head Alex Grimaldo's cross into the bottom-left corner.

Aleix Garcia was responsible for the third goal, with his low cross turned into his own net by Chernev 79 minutes in, and after Martin Georgiev caught Merino in the box in stoppage time, Oyarzabal fired his spot-kick into the bottom-right corner to cap a resounding triumph.

Data Debrief: Merino steals the show

Two towering headers from Merino got the job done as he continued his impressive run in front of goal. He has scored six times in four matches in Spain's qualifying campaign, with no midfielder scoring more across the European qualifiers (Kevin De Bruyne also has six).

And Le Normand has also been playing his part in the final third – he has been involved in four goals in his last five games for club and country (two goals, two assists), as many as in his previous 103 such appearances (three goals, one assist).

La Roja were dominant throughout, having 33 attempts in total worth 3.87 expected goals (xG), with 11 of those on target. At the other end, Bulgaria mustered just 0.38 xG from three off-target shots.

Spain have not lost in 29 competitive matches (W24 D5), matching their best ever run, achieved between 2010 and 2013 (W24 D5).

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

4' Grimaldo has a volley in the box which is saved by the keeper

9' Baena cuts in and has a powerful shot saved

18' Highlight from Spain vs Bulgaria

19' CLOSE! Pedri's close-range shot hits the bar!

25' Aghehowa has a shot in the box which is saved by the keeper

34' Oyarzabal's double shots are both denied by visitors

35' GOAL! Merino heads home to give hosts the lead! Spain 1-0 Bulgaria

46' Iglesias comes on to replace Aghehowa

57' GOAL! Merino has another header from Grimaldo's cross! Spain 2-0 Bulgaria

64' Kirilov has a shot from distance which is well wide

79' OWN GOAL! Chernev puts Garcia's cross into his own net! Spain 3-0 Bulgaria

90+2' Penalty Goal! Spain 4-0 Bulgaria (Mikel Oyarzabal)

Line-ups

Spain XI: Laporte, Grimaldo, Le Normand, Merino, Unai Simón, Oyarzabal, Martín Zubimendi, Álex Baena, Porro, Pedri, Samu Aghehowa

Subs: Álex Remiro, Iglesias, Llorente, A.García, David Raya, Cucurella, Jorge de Frutos, Dani Vivian, Yeremy, Barrios, Cubarsi, Jesús Rodríguez

Bulgaria XI: Radoslav Kirilov, Kiril Despodov, Dimitar Velkovski, Hristov, Martin Minchev, Stanislav Shopov, Svetoslav Vutsov, Filip Krastev, Ilia Gruev, Atanas Chernev, Martin Georgiev

Subs: Ivaylo Chochev, Dimitar Mitov, Dimitar Sheytanov, Kristian Dimitrov, Andrian Kraev, Zdravko Dimitrov, Vladimir Nikolov, Viktor Popov, Marin Petkov, Hristiyan Petrov, Kristiyan Stoyanov, Rosen Bozhinov