Spain maintained their 100% record in Group E of World Cup qualifying with a comfortable 2-0 win against Georgia.
Despite a missed penalty from Ferran Torres, a well-worked goal from Yeremy Pino and a powerful free-kick from Mikel Oyarzabal helped La Roja remain at the top of their group at the halfway stage, three points ahead of Turkiye.
It was a dominant start from the hosts, with Oyarzabal missing a header from close range before Pino eventually broke the deadlock after 24 minutes. Robin Le Normand squared the ball to the winger in the six-yard box after a great pass from Pedri.
Torres, who was denied a penalty in the opening stages following a VAR review, was then brought down by Giorgi Mamardashvili in the box. However, the Liverpool goalkeeper atoned for his error, diving to his left to save Torres’ spot-kick.
Luis de la Fuente’s side continued to push for a second, with Mikel Merino missing two golden opportunities before the break, while Pedro Porro and Oyarzabal both struck the woodwork in the opening exchanges of the second half.
But Spain’s persistence paid off when Oyarzabal’s well-struck free-kick from 20 yards out flew past Mamardashvili, leaving the goalkeeper no chance despite the ball going in on his side of the goal.
10 – Players with the most goal involvements for European national teams in 2025:
15 – Erling Haaland
10 – MIKEL OYARZABAL
9 – Kylian Mbappé
9 – Memphis DepayMoment. pic.twitter.com/KY1LoE5mjF
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) October 11, 2025
Data Debrief: Oyarzabal shines again on the international stage
It was a rudimentary win for the European champions, who accumulated 3.87 expected goals (xG) from 24 shots to Georgia’s 0.01 from one attempt, which came from the halfway line.
Oyarzabal, who famously scored Spain’s winner in their Euro 2024 final against England, has enjoyed wearing the national team’s shirt in 2025. Only Erling Haaland (15) has registered more goal involvements for European countries in 2025 than Oyarzabal (10).
Spain have now scored multiple goals in each of their last 10 matches, achieving this feat for the fourth time in their history (also in 1999 under Jose Antonio Camacho, 2010 under Vicente del Bosque, 2017 under Julen Lopetegui).