Tuesday night at Estadio La Cartuja in Sevilla brings a tight World Cup qualifier between two sides with very different targets. Spain are one step away from mathematically sealing their place at the 2026 World Cup. Turkey are fighting to keep their hopes alive and avoid dropping into the playoffs. Spain enter this match with complete control. La Roja have won all 5 qualifying games, scoring 19 goals and keeping 5 straight clean sheets. They tightened their grip on Group E with a dominant 4–0 win over Georgia on Saturday, setting a new national record with 30 unbeaten competitive matches. Oyarzabal celebrated his 50th cap with 2 goals, while Zubimendi and Ferran Torres completed the scoreline.
Turkey comes into this game with confidence but also realism. They secured a top-two finish after beating Bulgaria 2–0 on Saturday through a Calhanoglu penalty and an own goal. Their only slip in qualifying was the 6–0 loss to Spain. To reach their first World Cup since 2002, they likely need the playoff route. Montella’s side want to be the first team to beat Spain in a competitive match since March 2023. They also want to be the first team to score against La Roja since Portugal in the Nations League final. But history is not on their side. They have never beaten Spain in 6 attempts.For football lovers, this is going to be a cracker of a game. Dreams will continue, and dreams will end.
Spain vs Turkey: Key Stats
📊 Head-to-head: Spain 5 wins, Turkey 0 wins, Draw 1
📊 Spain: Unbeaten in 32 of last 33 matches (all comps)
📊 Turkey: Unbeaten in 20 of last 24 matches (all comps)
📊 Spain: Clean sheets in last 9 World Cup qualifiers
📊 Turkey: Last 9 away qualifiers have all gone over 2.5 goals
Predicted Lineups
Spain (4-3-3) Simon; Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella; Merino, Zubimendi, Ruiz; Torres, Pino, Oyarzabal
Turkey (4-2-3-1) Cakir; Celik, Demiral, Bardakci, Kadioglu; Calhanoglu, Kocu; Aydin, Guler, Yildiz; Akturkoglu
Players and Matchups to Watch
🔹 Arda Güler – Turkey’s brightest creative spark
🔹 Martin Zubimendi – Controlling Spain’s midfield tempo
🔹 Hakan Calhanoglu – Captain and penalty specialist
Odds Market on MSport
💵 Draw: 7.89
💵 Turkey to win: 14.05
💵 Over 2.5 Goals: 1.34
💵 Oyarzabal Anytime Goalscorer: 2.30
💵 Guler Anytime Goalscorer: 7.10
Spain are favourites based on form, quality and momentum, but Turkey carry enough attacking threats to make this more competitive than the reverse fixture. A high-tempo game is expected.
