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It all commenced in Scottish soil and the momentum continues. That fateful night at Hampden marked only Luis de la Fuente's second as Spain's head coach; numerous observers thought it could prove to be his last match in charge. Although two Scott McTominay goals defeating La Furia Roja, while almost all spectators anticipated his spell would be short-lived, the coach talked about a route opening - and remarkably, the manager once accused of living in Disneyland turned out right.

Three years and later, Spain moved extremely close of global football participation, while simultaneously achieving their twenty-ninth straight official game unbeaten, equaling the legendary record.

Midfield Masterclass and Merino's Impact

On a night when the Barcelona midfielder featured and Mikel Merino created the difference, Spain defeated Bulgaria 4-0 to secure a perfect dozen from 12 in qualifying, edging closer. The Arsenal playmaker and occasional striker scored the first two goals and could have secured his second consecutive hat-trick in three Spain appearances but when brought down in the final minute, he generously handed the penalty to Mikel Oyarzabal instead.

Thus it was the Real Sociedad striker, scorer of the winning goal in the Euro 2024 showpiece, who maintained the remarkable sequence, matching what Vicente del Bosque's legendary squad achieved between 2010 and 2013.

Record Equaled

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

Win in Georgia in thirty days and the achievement will be exclusively theirs. En route they won the Nations League in 2023, the European Championships in 2024 and reached a Nations League final in 2025; they head toward 2026 sitting number one, among the frontrunners once more, reminiscent of previous eras.

Total Control

The match represented "only" against Bulgaria, admittedly, similar to previous encounters against Georgia, Bulgaria, and Turkey but that's four wins from four outings, combined score 15-0. Occurred two instances immediately after the Spanish team scored their opening goals – the third being an self-inflicted – but ultimately their rivals had not been permitted a solitary shot on target.

The total count read: thirty-three to three, Spain clearly playing as Spain. Bulgaria's coach had confessed the sole objective his team could have was to hold out as long as they could. As it turned out, that defensive effort lasted 33 minutes, and Merino's header constituted 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, everywhere and elusive simultaneously: present for Spain, absent for Bulgaria, incapable to detect him as he darted through their defense. He executed one hundred and one passes by the time he was withdrawn to a standing ovation on 66 minutes, and his were the instances of greatest subtlety, the finest touches and the most incisive too.

When the Valladolid stadium sang his name midway the first half, he had just slipped unmarked into the penalty box once more, chipping his shot over Svetoslav Vutsov and onto the crossbar, but it was not just that. He had previously floated a gorgeous pass into Álex Baena to volley wide and delivered another pass from which Baena was blocked.

Continued Pressure

An cleverly weighted pass had set Samu Aghehowa up for what ought to have been the first goal, and a precise lay-off saw Oyarzabal scuff his attempt. He received a chance of his own only to fail to find a clean contact, striking wide.

But then, shortly after, he floated an additional ball in. This time Robin Le Normand nodded across and Merino headed in. Spain, who had 88% of the ball, then had the lead. The positioning chart appeared like they had exhausted supply of marking paint midway through and a little later Aghehowa might have made it two-nil.

Brief Resistance

But then in part it's the unpredictability, even the unfairness, that makes football great. And the initial occasion Bulgaria advanced into Spain's half they could have equalized, Kiril Despodov abruptly sprinting away and hitting the side-netting.

Introduced for Aghehowa at the half-time, Borja Iglesias had three chances in as many minutes before Merino did it again. The delivery from the left flank was superb from Álex Grimaldo and there, leaping above everyone, was Merino to direct the header downward and dash off to celebrate round the flagpost.

Final Moments

Similar to their reaction after the opener, Bulgaria survived once more, Despodov played through and putting his and their following shot wide and yet the first time the visitors had a shot on target it was at the wrong end, Atanas Chernev deflecting into his team's goal. Yet it was not quite finished, Merino fouled in the shins and stepping aside to let Oyarzabal smash in the ninety-ninth goal of De la Fuente's continuing reign.