Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria and Scotland qualify for the World Cup 2026

On Tuesday, Spain, the current European champions, secured qualification to the World Cup 2026 after a 2-2 draw with Turkey, on the final day of European qualifying, in which Belgium, Switzerland, Austria and Scotland also booked their tickets.

After a practically perfect qualifying phase, with a whole house of victories until the draw against the Turks, La Roja qualified for a 17th World Cup, a tournament they won in 2010.

"Happy to be in a World Cup and for the way we have done it," De la Fuente said at a press conference.

The road to North America had been well on track before facing Turkey, who needed to beat Spain to draw level on points and close the huge goal difference.

There was no miracle for the visitors, although they did go ahead thanks to Salih Ozcan's goal (54', 1-2). By then, Dani Olmo had put Spain ahead in the first seconds of the match (3') and Deniz Gul (42') had provisionally equalized before the break.

The final equalizer, scored by Mikel Oyarzabal (62'), served to maintain the unbeaten run at the close of the European qualifiers. Turkey, meanwhile, will try to reach the World Cup through the European play-offs, which Wales will also contest after thrashing North Macedonia 7-1 in Group J.

Only two goals conceded

"We have a bittersweet taste because we wanted to finish with a clean sheet, but happy to qualify for the World Cup," Dani Olmo told Televisión Española about the two goals conceded, the only ones in the entire qualifying phase.

The direct qualification ticket for that key goes to Belgium, which, after a hesitant group stage, crushed Liechtenstein 7-0 with braces from Jeremy Doku (34', 41') and Charles De Ketelaere (57', 59').

The Red Devils, semi-finalists in 2018, will contest their fifteenth World Cup next summer, which will also feature Switzerland as Group B champions.

Like Spain and Belgium, the Swiss side had everything to play for on a quiet last day against Kosovo, which ended in a 1-1 draw in Pristina. Although they did not achieve an epic qualification "in extremis," the Kosovars have the consolation of a second chance, finishing second in the group.

Much more exciting were the outcomes in Groups C and H, from which Scotland and Austria, respectively, qualified.

Heart-stopping finish in Glasgow

The Tartan Army, who had not played in a World Cup since 1998, played in front of their home crowd in Glasgow for a place in the World Cup against Denmark, which was decided with a 4-2 victory in frantic minutes of stoppage time.

Scott McTominay (3') had given Scotland the lead with a spectacular bicycle kick, before his Napoli teammate Rasmus Hojlund equalized from the penalty spot (57').

The dismissal minutes later of Rasmus Kristensen (61') helped the Scots back in front with a goal from Lawrence Shankland (78'), but Denmark equalized again thanks to Patrick Dorgu (82'), leaving the crowd gasping for air.

The half came to an end, and in the added minutes, the madness arrived: first, with a shot from the front by Kieran Tierney, straight into the back of the net (90+3'), and then, Kenny McLean scored (90+8') with a tremendous shot from his own half.

"That sums up our team well, we never quit. We kept fighting until the end, it's one of the craziest games," captain Andy Robertson reacted to British broadcaster BBC.

Thus, Scotland, with 13 points, overtook Denmark (11), which will have to play in the playoffs.

There they will meet Bosnia Herzegovina, who, after taking an early lead ('12) in Austria, went on to provisionally top Group H.

With less than fifteen minutes left, Michael Gregoritsch (77') put the final equalizer, which put Austria back on top of the group.

In the European play-offs, four more nations will qualify for the World Cup in March. The sixteen participants include Italy, Sweden or Poland