Who: <\/strong>Spain vs Turkiye Click here to follow our live coverage.<\/p>\n list of 4 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n Unbeaten Spain (5-0-0) is guaranteed direct qualification into the FIFA World Cup 2026 if they beat Turkiye in their last Group E fixture on Tuesday in Seville.<\/p>\n Armed with a three-point lead \u2013 and a huge goal difference \u2013 Luis de la Fuente\u2019s side are in a highly advantageous position to clinch a 13th consecutive appearance at football\u2019s global showpiece.<\/p>\n Turkiye (4-0-1), for their part, still have a mathematical chance to steal the top spot from Spain in their Matchday 10 finale \u2013 but they will need to rain down a plethora of goals on the reigning European champions to avoid the runners-up spot.<\/p>\n Here is all to know about their Group E return clash:<\/p>\n Spain currently sits at the top of their Group E with five wins out of five fixtures and have a perfect record with 15 points.<\/p>\n Scenario 1:<\/strong><\/p>\n A draw or a win in their final match against Turkiye would seal their spot at the 2026 World Cup with an insurmountable lead in the group.<\/p>\n Scenario 2:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n A loss to Turkiye would mean both teams conclude the qualification period with 15 points from six matches \u2013 but with Spain having a vastly superior goal difference.<\/p>\n To finish first in Group E, Turkiye would have to pull off a stunning seven-goal victory away to Spain to pip La Roja for automatic World Cup qualification.<\/p>\n Turkiye sit in second position in Group E with 12 points \u2013 nine points clear of next-best Georgia.<\/p>\n Unless they can defeat Spain by seven goals, Turkiye will enter the UEFA playoff competition in March as the group runners-up.<\/p>\n Turkiye last took part in the World Cup finals in 2002, finishing a surprise third place in the tournament that was co-hosted by Japan and South Korea.<\/p>\n Mikel Merino\u2019s hat-trick helped Spain thrash hosts Turkiye 6-0 in their last World Cup qualifier on September 7.<\/p>\n The home side had no answer to Spain\u2019s dominance, undone time and again by the visitors\u2019 speed and finesse, with a helpless Turkish defence torn apart on every counterattack.<\/p>\n That loss remains Turkiye\u2019s only defeat in Group E.<\/p>\n Barcelona star forward Lamine Yamal will miss Spain\u2019s final World Cup qualifier against Turkiye as he continues to manage an ongoing groin issue.<\/p>\n Yamal, 18, underwent a small procedure in Barcelona on November 10 to try and fix the problem. Doctors estimate his recovery time from the surgery at 7-10 days.<\/p>\n Spain has never lost to Turkiye in the six international fixtures they have played since 2005.<\/p>\n Spain<\/strong>: W-W-W-W-W (UEFA World Cup qualifiers, most recent result last)<\/p>\n Turkiye<\/strong>: W-L-W-W-W (UEFA World Cup qualifiers, most recent result last)<\/p>\n In addition to Yamal\u2019s unavailability, Spain heads into the Turkiye fixture without other key players Dani Carvajal, Pedri and Rodri.<\/p>\n Dean Huijsen is also questionable with a groin issue and is likely to be a game-time decision for De la Fuente.<\/p>\n Mikel Oyarzabal, who has scored eight goals in his last eight international appearances, will again be the No 1 choice to lead the line for Spain on Tuesday.<\/p>\n The Turkish Football Federation has officially ruled out Inter Milan midfield star Hakan Calhanoglu against Spain after he picked up a wrist injury during the previous international match against Bulgaria on Saturday.<\/p>\n Calhanoglu, who is the top goalscorer in Italy\u2019s top-flight Serie A this season, will likely be replaced in an attacking midfield position by Isak Vural, who has been brought into the squad.<\/p>\n Head coach Vincenzo Montella will almost certainly be without Galatasaray defender Kaan Ayhan, who is highly questionable after he was substituted on Saturday with a groin injury.<\/p>\n Midfielder Ismail Yuksek will serve a one-match ban after picking up a second yellow card in the qualifying campaign against Bulgaria.<\/p>\n Spain:<\/strong>\u00a0Simon (goalkeeper); Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella; Merino, Zubimendi, Ruiz; Torres, Oyarzabal, Baena<\/p>\n Turkiye:<\/strong>\u00a0Cakir (goalkeeper); Celik, Demiral, Bardakci, Kadioglu; Vural, Kocu; Aydin, Guler, Yildiz; Akturkoglu<\/p>\n De la Fuente:<\/strong><\/p>\n The Spain head coach is not taking his team\u2019s unbeaten Group E run for granted before Tuesday\u2019s fixture with Turkiye.<\/p>\n \u201cOur aim is to qualify for the [FIFA] World Cup,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cRegardless of the results in this phase, we want to win to secure our place in the qualifiers, and that means fighting, working hard and doing things right to give ourselves the best chance of winning.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very difficult to win and we want to continue on our path, but one game at a time and one day at a time,\u201d De la Fuente said.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery now and then it\u2019s good to keep our feet on the ground. What this team is doing is very difficult, but we want to keep improving.\u201d<\/p>\n Montella:<\/strong><\/p>\n The Turkiye head coach has deployed a strong tactical game plan against Spain, but concedes his side\u2019s chances of overtaking the European champions in the points table are slim.<\/p>\n \u201cIt [the fixture] won\u2019t have much effect on the points table, but it\u2019s important for us nonetheless,\u201d he said. \u201cI believe in my players.\u201d<\/p>\n The tournament is being staged across the United States, Canada and Mexico. The first match will be played in Mexico City on June 11, while the final will be staged in New Jersey, US, on July 19.<\/p>\n Due to the expansion of the tournament \u2013 from 32 teams to 48 \u2013 the 39-day event is the longest in its history.<\/p>\n Who: Spain vs TurkiyeWhat: UEFA World Cup qualifier, Group EWhere: La Cartuja Stadium in Seville, SpainWhen: Tuesday at 8:45pm (19:45 GMT) Click here to follow our live coverage. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Unbeaten Spain (5-0-0) is guaranteed direct qualification into the FIFA World Cup 2026 if they beat Turkiye in their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2390,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2389\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
What:<\/strong> UEFA World Cup qualifier, Group E
Where:<\/strong> La Cartuja Stadium in Seville, Spain
When:<\/strong> Tuesday at 8:45pm (19:45 GMT)<\/p>\nRecommended Stories <\/h2>\n
Current Group E standings (one fixture remaining):<\/h2>\n
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How can Spain qualify for the World Cup?<\/h2>\n
How can Turkiye qualify for the World Cup?<\/h2>\n
![\"Mikel](\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2025-09-07T200632Z_711636904_UP1EL971JUVI5_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-WORLDCUP-TUR-ESP-REPORT-1763369280.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80\")
What happened the last time Spain and Turkiye played?<\/h2>\n
Will Lamine Yamal play for Spain?<\/h2>\n
![\"Lamine](\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2025-11-14T164429Z_1638763776_RC2ANGAPO1UN_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-WORLDCUP-GEO-ESP-PREVIEW-1763368846.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80\")
Head-to-head<\/h2>\n
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Form Guide:<\/h2>\n
Spain team news<\/h2>\n
Turkiye team news<\/h2>\n
![\"Hakan](\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2025-11-15T221900Z_1116188785_UP1ELBF1CDCCR_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-WORLDCUP-TUR-BGR-1763368635.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C527&quality=80\")
Predicted starting lineups:<\/h2>\n
What the coaches had to say:<\/h2>\n
When and where is the FIFA World Cup 2026?<\/h2>\n
![\"MetLife](\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/NEW-JERSEY_GettyImages-1492778063-1748870582.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C514&quality=80\")
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