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MIGUEL ANGEL LARA
Updated
Spain already knows its roadmap to be in the 2026 World Cup. Better said, what he knows are the two options from which his path to the XXIII World Cup will emerge. Because the final one will depend on the result of the Nations League quarterfinal match, which in March will face Spain in the Netherlandsin Rotterdam and, almost certainly, in Valencia.
In the event that Spain defeats those of Koeman, and is one of the four semifinalists of the Nations, will be included in the group E, one of the insured with only four teams. The first rival that came out for that possibility was Türkiye. It is a rival against which Spain has not seen itself in a qualifying phase since South Africa. A great memory, the bad one is the one from the 1954 World Cup, the one about the elimination due to currency. The balance against the Turks is six wins, four draws and two losses.
The third ball on that path in the case of Group E went to someone I knew: Georgia. The Caucasians were on Spain’s route for the 2014 World Cup, the one in Qatar and for the last Euro. In addition to being the rival in the round of 16 in Germany, in Dusseldorf. The balance against the Georgians is seven victories and one defeat.
He Group E was completed with Bulgaria, a country that Spain has never visited. They were rivals in the final phase of the 1996 Euro and the 1998 World Cup. It is the team against which Spain had its biggest defeat: 13-0, on May 21, 1933. In five games, the Bulgarians only failed to lose the 1-1 of the 1996 Euro.
If the Spanish team cannot defend its crown in June, the path to the 2026 World Cup will start from group Gof five teams. Poland was the first rival on that path. A rival against whom Spain has played 11 times (eight wins, two draws and one loss). The only coincidence in classification was in the Euro 1960, in the first round, the first time that Spain played on the other side of the Berlin Wall.
He joined that path Finland, rival of Spain on the route to Brazil World Cupwhen the Finns were able to tie in Gijon (1-1). It was also Spain’s rival in the 1970 qualification. The total balance is five wins for Spain, two draws and one defeat.
The next team to appear on the loser route of the Spain-Netherlands was Lithuania, Spanish rival in the qualification for the 1994 World Cup, the 2006 World Cup and the 2012 Euro. Of six games, Spain won five and drew 0-0 on October 13, 2004, in Vilnius.
That route closed with the first ball to come out of the last pot: the Malta. The eternal memory of the 12-1 to go to the 1984 Euro. The Maltese team was Spain’s rival for the last time in the qualification for the 2020 Euro. The balance sheet is full of Spanish victories: nine out of nine.
Remember that the champions of each group pass. The runners-up go to a play-off which, in any case, Spain is assured thanks to being champion of its Nations League group.
