Spain Advances, But World Cup Qualification Still pending; Austria & belgium Near Victory
Spain continued its strong qualifying form with a 4-0 victory over Georgia, but their place in the World Cup is not yet secured.Mikel Oyarzabal scored both the opening and closing goals, netting a penalty in the 11th minute and a header in the 68th minute. Ferran Torres and Martín Zubimendi also contributed to the scoreline,finding the net in the first half,bringing the score to 3-0 by the 35th minute. Oyarzabal has now scored nine goals in his last seven games with the national team, and provided six assists in the same period, including the assist for Torres’ goal.
Simultaneously, Türkiye defeated Bulgaria 2-0, remaining three points behind Spain and securing at least a playoff spot.
Several other teams are on the verge of qualification. Austria, leading Group H with 18 points, defeated Cyprus 2-0 and could confirm their World Cup berth today if Bosnia and Herzegovina (13 points) fails to defeat Romania (10 points).
Belgium‘s qualification was elaborate by a 1-1 draw against Kazakhstan, despite Kazakhstan playing with ten men for the final quarter-hour following Islam ChesnokovS expulsion. Hans Vanaken equalized for Belgium in the 48th minute after falling behind in the 9th. They will now need to defeat Liechtenstein on Tuesday to secure their place, though their +15 goal difference means a draw could be sufficient, depending on the results of North Macedonia and Wales, who face each other on the final day.
Across European qualifiers, england, France, and Croatia have already qualified. Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, and Belgium are all close to joining them, and Switzerland could become the 31st team to secure a place this afternoon, depending on their result against Sweden and Kosovo’s match against Slovenia.
The remaining qualifying spots will be determined between Monday and tuesday, with 12 direct places and 12 playoff spots available, supplemented by four teams from the Nations League table.
