Although Spain has slowed down considerably in its search for more goals, it continues to dominate the match, seeing that even when it accelerates, it finds spaces in attack where it can continue to hurt Turkey and increase its lead even further.
Out ⬇️ Lamine Yamal and Zubimendi
In ⬆️ Rodri and Morata
Two players who had a great game are coming off to make way for two veterans of this team: Rodri, who is back with Spain again, and Morata, who did not play in the team’s last game.
Substitution for Turkey
Out ⬇️ Calhanoglu
In ⬆️ Kokcu
Substitutions for Spain:
Out ⬇️ Oyarzabal and Pedri ⚽️⚽️
On ⬆️ De Frutos and Fermín López
Two of the best players of the match are coming off, especially Pedri, who leaves with a brace and an assist from a wonderful performance with Spain.
Muldur and Elmali come off ⬇️
Celik and Kadioglu come on ⬆️
These changes are designed to prevent their team from conceding more goals, seeking speed on the wings to prevent Spain from getting so far ahead on those counterattacks.
Goal for Spain, Pedri scores his second. Once again, with Turkey leaving space up front, Spain launches a powerful counterattack. Oyarzabal holds onto the ball and passes it to Pedri who, facing the goalkeeper and with great precision, scores his second goal.
Although Turkey has had more possession in the second half, it has been unable to break through Spain’s strong defence, which, in addition to not giving them any space, is very effective on the counterattack, where they can continue to hurt the Turkish team.
Spain scores again, once more through Mikel Merino. Spain once again finds space in Turkey’s defence and continues to extend its lead. Yamal passes the ball to Merino who, from mid-range and with his left foot, scores his hat-trick with a truly spectacular goal. Spain is completely dominating this match.
Goal for Spain, scored by Ferran Torres. In a Spanish counterattack led by Pedri, he passed the ball to Lamine Yamal, who then passed it to Ferran Torres, who was arriving, and he shot at the near post to score the fourth goal of the match.
The second half kicked off with Spain dominating completely, just as they had in the first half. The Spanish team had already had a few chances, the most dangerous being one by Ferran Torres inside the area, which was ultimately saved by goalkeeper Cakir.
The first half between Turkey and Spain has ended, with Spain once again proving to be completely devastating and going into the break with three goals that could have been more. Turkey was unable to find a response to this.
Spain scores again, once more through Mikel Merino. In another spectacular move by Spain, Pedri broke into the box and passed the ball back, Oyarzabal let it roll through for Merino, who was unmarked, to score his second and Spain’s third goal of the game.
Out ⬇️ Nico Williams 🚑
In ⬆️ Ferran Torres
In the end, Nico Williams’ injury means he cannot continue on the pitch, and he is replaced by Ferran Torres, who will take his place on Spain’s left wing. Let’s hope it’s nothing serious for the player.
Turkey tries to get into Spain’s area and pose a threat, but the Spanish team closes down the spaces very well and does not allow the Turks to get close enough to pose a serious threat.
In addition, Nico Williams felt some discomfort. We will see if he can continue.
The match continues with Spain clearly dominating Turkey, who are still unable to gain possession of the ball to try to reach the goal. Spain continues to accumulate chances, this time with Nico Williams receiving the ball inside the area, but his shot ended up going wide.
The match lost some of its intensity in terms of goal attempts, which had been quite frequent on both sides. The last dangerous attempt in the game was again by Lamine Yamal, who once again hooked the ball with his left foot and shot at goal, with the ball going very close to the goal.
Spain continues to press high after losing possession and playing a possession game that makes life difficult for their opponents. Turkey is also trying to get into the game, especially through Arda Guler and Yildiz, who are causing the most problems for the Spanish defence.
Both teams have come close to scoring in the last few minutes. Spain, on a counterattack, saw Oyarzabal receive the ball in the box and pass to Lamine Yamal, who incredibly sent the ball over the goal.
For Turkey, Yildiz came close to scoring twice, the first time from mid-range, with the shot being saved by the goalkeeper, and the second time inside the area, with the player shooting at the near post, only to find Unai Simón once again alert.
Goal for Spain, scored by Merino. A spectacular move by Spain with pure passing. Cucurella passed to Oyarzabal, who passed to Nico Williams, who passed it back to him, and finally, with a pass to Merino, he scored Spain’s second goal of the game with his left foot. A great goal with pure tiki-taka.
Turkey has just found a great way to hurt Spain and came close to equalising. Taking advantage of Spain’s high defensive line, Arda Guler passed to Akturkoglu, who found himself alone in front of the goalkeeper. The ball ended up hitting the crossbar, but in the end, the goal was ruled out for offside.
Turkey is trying to gain some control of the ball in the game. However, Spain, with its pressure and ball control, is preventing this very effectively, dominating the match so far at will and without suffering.
Spain came close to scoring a second goal on two occasions. The first was a rebound that Le Normand took advantage of, shooting at goal, but Cakir responded well once again. The second came when Yamal made a great solo run down the right, entering the box and shooting with his left foot, but once again the Turkish goalkeeper prevented his team from conceding.
Spain has possession of the ball as usual, but Turkey is looking to respond by exploiting some spaces left behind by Spain. Elmali received the ball inside the area and shot with his right foot, but the ball went very close to the goal.
Goal for Spain, scored by Pedri. Nico Williams passed to Pedri, who, with a great dribble, left a Turkish player lying on the ground and, on the edge of the area, finished with his right foot to put the first goal on the scoreboard.
The match kicked off with two shots on goal from both teams. The first came from Yuksek from mid-range, which ended up in the hands of Unai Simón. For Spain, Nico Williams shot with his right foot from inside the area, but goalkeeper Cakir responded well.
The match between Turkey and Spain in the European qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup has begun. We will see if Spain dominates as usual or if Turkey asserts its authority by defending its home turf.
Both teams are now ready to kick off this European qualifying match for the 2026 World Cup.
Led by the referees, the players from Turkey and Spain take to the pitch at the Konya Büyükşehir Arena stadium.
This great match between these two teams is about to begin.
We’re back! We’re ready to bring you all the action from the Turkey vs Spain match. We invite you to follow the action with us. Let’s see what this great game between two very good teams has in store for us.
In their most recent match, Luis de la Fuente deployed a 4-3-3 formation as follows: Unai Simón in goal; Porro, Le Normand, Huijsen and Cucurella in defence; Merino, Zubimendi and Pedri in midfield; Williams, Oyarzabal and Lamine Yamal as the attacking trio.
In their last match, Vincenzo Montella fielded a 4-2-3-1 formation as follows: Çakır in goal; Müldür, Demiral, Bardakcı and Elmalı in defence; Çalhanoğlu and Yüksek in the double pivot; Akbaba, Güler and Aktürkoğlu in attack; while Mikautadze was the centre forward.
The last match between Turkey and Spain on Turkish soil was on 1 April 2009, during the 2010 World Cup qualifiers. The match was played at Ali Sami Yen and ended in a 1-2 victory for Spain. The goals were scored by Semih Şentürk for Turkey, while Xabi Alonso (penalty) and Albert Riera scored for Spain.
Turkey and Spain have faced each other in various official and friendly matches, playing a total of 11 games. The balance is tipped in Spain’s favour with six wins, while Turkey has won four times and there has been one draw.
We will soon share the starting line-ups for the Turkey vs. Spain match live, as well as the latest information from the Konya Büyükşehir Arena stadium. Don’t miss a single detail of the live match updates and commentary from VAVEL’s coverage.
If you want to watch the Turkey vs. Spain match on television, there is no official broadcast.
If you want to watch it via streaming, your best option is Movistar+ in Spain, Disney+ in South America, Sky+ in Mexico, or FuboTV in the United States.
If you want to watch it online, VAVEL is your best option.
Rodri is the 29-year-old Manchester City midfielder who has returned to playing for his club and national team after a serious injury that kept him off the pitch for so long. The current Ballon d’Or winner wants to return to being the linchpin of his national team, which was European champion, and regain the form that led him to be named the best player in the world. Rodri has already played 58 games for his national team, scoring four goals and providing two assists.
Kenan Yildiz is the 20-year-old winger who plays for Juventus and who, in the last season, has proven to be one of the most impressive players in Europe’s top leagues. His great performance with the team has put him on the radar of Europe’s best teams, which were unable to prise him away from Juventus, as he is such a valuable player for them. With the Turkish national team, the young winger has the task of leading a squad that includes other promising young players like himself. He has played 22 games for the senior team, scoring two goals and providing four assists.
Spain was not only the clear favourite to qualify first in this group, but also one of the top contenders to win the upcoming World Cup. The European champions have been performing at a high level in tournaments such as the European Championship and, more recently, the Nations League, in addition to having a large squad of quality players who are currently among the best in the world.
In their last match, Spain comfortably defeated Bulgaria away from home by a score of 0-3.
Turkey comes into these qualifiers as one of the toughest rivals for favourites Spain. With a high-quality squad, the team could believe it has what it takes to snatch the spot from Spain and achieve a surprise qualification for the World Cup by finishing in first place. The Turkish team has been improving over the years and has now established a very good squad ready to compete head-to-head with any opponent.
In their last match, Turkey beat Georgia away by a narrow 2-3 score.
Welcome to the broadcast of the Turkey vs. Spain match. My name is Julián Ramírez, and I will be accompanying you during this match corresponding to matchday 6 of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. We will bring you analysis and minute-by-minute coverage of the match, which will take place at the Konya Büyükşehir Arena at 2:45 PM ET.