Bulgaria vs Spain: World Cup qualifiers – teams, start, lineup

Who: Bulgaria vs Spain
What: UEFA qualifiers for 2026 FIFA World Cup
Where: Vasil Levski National Stadium successful Sofia, Bulgaria
When: Thursday, August 4, astatine 9:45pm (18:45 GMT)

How to follow: We’ll person each the build-up connected Al Jazeera Sport from 6:45pm (15:45 GMT) successful beforehand of our unrecorded substance commentary stream.

European shot turns its absorption for the adjacent week to qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with the run-in for the nations intensifying dramatically up of the planetary event.

Qualifying connected the continent volition present commencement a six-game, 11-week sprint from Thursday to beforehand to the tourney being played successful the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Al Jazeera Sport takes a look astatine wherefore this is the opening crippled of this signifier for hosts Bulgaria and 2010 champions Spain.

Why person teams similar Spain, Germany, Portugal and France not played immoderate World Cup qualifiers yet?

Among those starting their qualifying programme are top-tier teams who played a thrilling acceptable of Nations League games successful March and June.

Since the instauration of that tourney successful Europe, teams that person progressed to that second stages of that contention lone articulation the World Cup qualifiers astatine a aboriginal stage.

Portugal were crowned champions arsenic they beat Spain 5-3 connected penalties successful the 2025 last successful June.

Spain had flooded France successful the semifinal, portion Portugal bushed Germany. The remainder of the qualifiers for the second stages of that tourney are besides lone entering the World Cup qualifiers now.

Head manager Luis de la Fuente, centre, shakes hands with Lamine Yamal of Spain, left, aft the UEFA Nations League last decision by Portugal [Anna Szilagyi/EPA]

Who other is successful Spain and Bulgaria’s group?

Turkiye and Georgia implicit Group E of the UEFA World Cup Qualifiers.

What is the format for Spain and the teams entering the World Cup qualifiers now?

There are six groups of 4 which are lone present opening their World Cup qualifying campaigns.

There are a further six groups of 5 teams which person already completed 4 qualifying matches to this stage.

The apical teams from each of the groups suffice straight for adjacent summer’s World Cup, portion the 2nd placed teams participate playoffs successful bid to progress.

Two teams are eliminated from the reduced four-team groups, portion 3 teams are eliminated from the already nether mode five-team groups.

What was the World Cup qualifying payment of playing successful the Nations League?

The 12 runners-up from the existent groups volition beryllium joined successful the playoffs, scheduled successful March, by 4 best-placed sides from the Nations League groups that don’t suffice automatically from this stage.

The intent is to springiness those sides a bonus accidental of qualifying should they tally into occupation successful the existent groups.

Those other teams could include, remarkably, San Marino, 210th and past of the men’s nationalist teams ranked by FIFA. They are presently bottommost of Group H successful the qualifiers with 4 defeats from their 4 games, but finished apical of Group 1 successful League D of their past Nations League campaign.

How volition the 2026 World Cup playoffs work?

The 16 European playoffs teams volition beryllium seeded into 4 knockout brackets of 4 teams each.

They play single-game semifinals and finals connected March 26 and 31, to determine the 4 remaining World Cup slots.

The smallest qualifying groups successful UEFA since 1989

The other World Cup entries fixed by FIFA, and Nations League knockout signifier expanded by UEFA, person changed the qualifying formula.

Europe present has its archetypal World Cup qualifying groups of conscionable 4 teams since those that finished successful November 1989, conscionable days aft the Berlin Wall fell and reshaped the continent.

High-ranking nations that erstwhile had to play successful groups of 5 oregon six teams crossed 15 months present person a condensed programme playing 2 games successful each of 3 consecutive months.

An wounded could region a cardinal subordinate for the full qualifying program. Germany volition not person Jamal Musiala, who sustained a superior limb wounded playing for Bayern Munich astatine the Club World Cup successful July.

The format changes again adjacent year. After the 2026 World Cup, the FIFA docket for men’s national-team games volition harvester the abstracted September and October breaks into a four-game artifact implicit back-to-back weekends.

Dominant successful qualifying 📊 #FIFAWorldCup

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) September 1, 2025

Is Spain’s the toughest group?

European champion Spain’s reward for beating the Netherlands successful the Nations League quarterfinal successful March was to onshore successful a four-team radical with Turkiye and Georgia, 2 breakout successes astatine Euro 2024.

Georgia, with prima winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, was the astir unsafe squad among third-seeded options successful the gully past December. Georgia hosts Turkiye connected Thursday and plays astatine Spain connected October 11.

The hardest radical successful presumption of prediction is astir apt the four-team radical of Switzerland, Sweden, Slovenia and Kosovo.

Switzerland was an awesome quarterfinalist astatine Euro 2024 yet indispensable look immoderate of Europe’s astir costly forwards – Slovenia’s Benjamin Sesko, present astatine Arsenal, and a Sweden attacking enactment of Alexander Isak, Viktor Gyokeres and Anthony Elanga who were collectively signed for much than $300m this play by, respectively, Liverpool, Arsenal and Newcastle.

Head-to-head – Bulgaria vs Spain

This is lone the sixth gathering the Europeans – contempt the fixture dating backmost to 1933.

Spain person won 4 of the encounters portion the different lucifer was a 1-1 gully successful the radical signifier astatine Euro 96 successful England.

Legendary Bulgarian guardant Hristo Stoichkov gave his broadside the pb from the punishment spot but Alfonso Perez levelled for Spain.

The archetypal gathering resulted successful a 13-0 location triumph for Spain successful a affable successful May of 1933.

What happened the past clip Bulgaria played Spain?

This is the archetypal gathering betwixt the countries successful much than 2 decades, with Spain winning the past brushwood 1-0 successful a affable successful 2002.

Their past competitory gathering was astatine the France ’98 World Cup, with Spain winning 6-1.

Bulgaria squad news

The biggest conundrum for Bulgaria is who to commencement successful extremity with Aberdeen’s Dimitar Mitov and Levski Sofia’s Svetoslav Vutsov vying for the gloves.

The location broadside are acceptable to deploy a five-man defence to negate the attacking menace of Spain.

Spain squad news

Barcelona’s Gavi, Paris Saint-Germain’s Fabian Ruiz and Crystal Palace’s Yeremy Pino each miss retired owed to precocious injuries.

Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Aleix Garcia and Rayo Vallecano guardant Jorge de Frutos person been called into the squad arsenic replacements.

Bulgaria predicted starting lineup

Mitov; Minkov, Dimitrov, Petkov, Nedyalkov, Nurnberger; Despodov, Shopov, Gruev, Milanov;

Spain predicted starting lineup

Simon; Porro, Le Normand, Huijsen, Cucurella; Pedri, Zubimendi, Olmo; Yamal, Williams, Oyarzabal