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Everything commenced in Scotland and the momentum continues. That fateful night at Hampden marked only Luis de la Fuente's second as Spain's head coach; many believed it could prove to be his final assignment. Despite two Scott McTominay goals defeating La Furia Roja, whereas almost all spectators expected his spell would be short-lived, De la Fuente spoke about a route opening - and remarkably, the man previously criticized of being unrealistic proved right.

36 months and later, Spain moved extremely close of World Cup qualification, and also achieving their twenty-ninth straight competitive game without defeat, equaling the historic record.

Midfield Masterclass and Merino's Impact

On a night when the Barcelona midfielder featured and Mikel Merino created the decisive impact, Spain overcame Bulgaria four-nil to accumulate a perfect dozen from twelve in qualifying, edging closer. The Arsenal playmaker and occasional striker scored the first two goals and could have earned his second three-goal haul in three recent Spain matches but when brought down in the closing minute, he generously handed the spot-kick to Mikel Oyarzabal instead.

Therefore it was La Real striker, scorer of the decisive goal in the Euro 2024 showpiece, who maintained the impressive sequence, equaling what Vicente del Bosque's golden generation accomplished between 2010 and 2013.

Record Equaled

Now, you might have noticed the asterisk, and correctly so. While FIFA might not classify it as a loss, during this impressive run Spain actually suffer defeat once – 7-5 on penalties to Portugal in the continental tournament final back in June. However officially at least, this present team has matched that historic team against which all Spanish sides are measured.

Victory in Georgia in thirty days and the record will be theirs alone. Along the way they captured the Nations League in 2023, the European Championships in 2024 and advanced to a Nations League final in 2025; they head toward 2026 ranked number one, among the frontrunners once more, reminiscent of previous eras.

Complete Domination

The match represented "only" versus Bulgaria, admittedly, similar to previous encounters against Georgia, Bulgaria, and Turkey but that's four wins from four outings, aggregate score 15-0. Occurred two moments immediately after La Selección obtained their opening goals – the third being an own goal – but ultimately their opponents had not been allowed a solitary shot on target.

Overall count read: thirty-three to three, Spain demonstrably being Spain. Bulgaria's coach had confessed the sole objective his team could have was to hold out as long as possible. Ultimately, that defensive effort lasted 33 minutes, and Merino's header represented Spain's eighteenth attempt on target by that point.

Midfield Brilliance

This performance was about all of them, but at the core of it was Pedri, ubiquitous and nowhere simultaneously: present for Spain, absent for Bulgaria, incapable to detect him as he darted through their defense. He executed 101 passes by the time he was substituted to a standing ovation on 66 minutes, and his were the instances of utmost subtlety, the finest touches and the sharpest too.

When the José Zorrilla sang his name midway the opening period, he had just drifted unnoticed into the penalty box once more, chipping his shot over Svetoslav Vutsov and onto the woodwork, but it was not just that. He had already floated a magnificent pass into Álex Baena to strike wide and pulled an additional pass from which Baena was denied.

Continued Pressure

An cleverly weighted pass had created opportunity for Samu Aghehowa up for what should have been the opener, and a neat lay-off saw Oyarzabal mishit his attempt. He got a chance of his own only to be unable to find a proper connection, volleying wide.

But then, almost immediately after, he delivered an additional ball in. This time Robin Le Normand headed across and Merino headed in. Spain, who had 88% of the ball, then had the advantage. The heat map looked like they had exhausted supply of spray paint half way through and a little later Aghehowa could have made it two.

Momentary Threat

But then in part it's the unpredictability, even the unfairness, that makes football special. And the first time Bulgaria got into Spain's half they could have equalized, Kiril Despodov suddenly sprinting away and striking the side-netting.

Brought on for Aghehowa at the half-time, Borja Iglesias had multiple opportunities in as many minutes before Merino scored again. The cross from the left was superb from Álex Grimaldo and there, leaping above all defenders, was Merino to direct the header down and dash off to do laps around the corner flag.

Closing Stages

Similar to their reaction after the first goal, Bulgaria survived once more, Despodov played through and putting his and their following shot wide and nevertheless the initial instance the away team had a shot on target it was at the incorrect goal, Atanas Chernev turning into his own net. Yet it was not quite done, Merino kicked in the legs and stepping aside to let Oyarzabal blast in the 99th goal of De la Fuente's ongoing tenure.