Preview:Bulgaria vs Spain - prediction, team news, lineups

European champions Spain will kick off their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign in Thursday's away clash against Bulgaria in Sofia.

The two nations are competing in Group E alongside Turkey and Georgia, with the winner securing automatic qualification and second-place sealing a spot in the qualifying playoffs.

Match preview

Bulgaria are set to return to competitive action for the first time since failing in their bid to win promotion in the 2024-25 Nations League.

Ilian Iliev's side collected nine points from six matches to finish in second place in Group C3, setting up a promotion/relegation playoff tie against the Republic of Ireland.

Unfortunately for Bulgaria, they fell to 2-1 victories in both home and away legs, ensuring that they will continue playing in League C when the Nations League returns in 2026.

They then warmed up for their upcoming World Cup qualifying campaign with underwhelming results in their two friendly outings in June, playing out a 2-2 home draw with Cyprus before falling to a 4-0 away defeat against Greece.

As the lowest-ranked side in their World Cup qualifying group, the Lions will be well aware that they have their work cut out to reach the finals for the first time since France 98.

Bulgaria will do their utmost to produce a shock in their first game against Spain since 2002, although their hopes of a positive result will be tempered by the fact that they have lost four of their previous five meetings (D1).

Spain are set to return to action for the first time since falling short in their bid to claim back-to-back Nations League titles.

La Roja saw off the Netherlands on penalties in the quarter-final, before they pulled off a 5-4 victory over France in the last-four to set up a final clash with Portugal.

However, Spain experienced disappointment in the final in Munich, giving up the lead on two occasions before losing 5-3 on penalties.

Spain will now be fully focused on the road to the 2026 World Cup, and they will be hoping that Thursday's fixture is the start of their journey to lifting the coveted trophy for the second time.

Luis de la Fuente's side are already guaranteed a playoff spot following their Nations League performance, but they will expect to secure automatic qualification for a 13th consecutive World Cup appearance.

Spain have proven to be a formidable force on their travels under De La Fuente, having gone over two years since suffering their last away defeat in a European Championship qualifier against Scotland in March 2023.

Bulgaria form (all competitions):

W D L L D L

Spain form (all competitions):

W W D W W L

Team News

Aberdeen's Dimitar Mitov is in line start in goal for the hosts, although he is facing competition from Levski Sofia's Svetoslav Vutsov.

Illiev is likely to use a back five in a bid to negate Spain's attacking threat, which could see Nikolay Minkov, Kristian Dimitrov, Aleks Petkov, Anton Nedyalkov and Fabian Nurnberger all start in defence.

At the opposite end of the pitch, Aleksandar Kolev could be given the nod over Vladimir Nikolov in the battle for the number nine spot.

As for Spain, Barcelona's Gavi, Paris Saint-Germain's Fabian Ruiz and Crystal Palace summer signing Yeremy Pino have all withdrawn from the squad due to injury.

Those withdrawals have led De la Fuente to call up Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Aleix Garcia and Rayo Vallecano attacker Jorge de Frutos.

Lamine Yamal will be looking to carry his club form into the international window after netting two goals and providing three assists in Barcelona's opening three league games.

Yamal's Barcelona teammate Ferran Torres could miss out to Mikel Oyarzabal for a starting spot, but the former Manchester City forward will hope to get on the pitch at some stage to make his 50th international appearance.

Bulgaria possible starting lineup:

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

Spain possible starting lineup:

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

We say: Bulgaria 0-3 Spain

Spain have world-class talent in every area of the pitch, and with that in mind, we can only see one winner in Thursday's World Cup qualifier.

La Roja should make light work of Bulgaria in Sofia, and it could be a question as to how many they win by rather than whether they can pick up all three points.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.