The road to the 2026 FIFA World Cup starts on Thursday for these two countries as Group E of UEFA qualifying gets underway. The group consists of Spain, Turkey, Bulgaria and Georgia. Turkey and Georgia will face off against each other before Spain visit Sofia to take on Bulgaria.
The European champions are obviously the clear favorites, not only for this game but to win the group outright and book their tickets to the USA. The Bulgarians will look to make it back to their first World Cup since 1998.
Spain are -900 favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook for this one, with a draw available at +850. Fancy a Bulgaria upset? They are +2500 on the moneyline.
Bulgaria vs. Spain Prediction, Pick
This bet can be found under the “Match Parlays” tab. There’s an argument that Spain are the best international team on the planet at the moment, and I expect them to dominate this game and score goals while doing so. For the first time since 2002, these two nations will face each other.
Spain have been on a roll recently, winning the Euros last summer. Since then they reached the Nations League final, where they fell short in a penalty shootout loss to Portugal. Despite that, this is still a team that hasn’t lost any match in normal time since March of 2024. They are unbeaten in that regard in 20 straight games and don’t look like slowing down anytime soon. The likes of Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal have been elite for their country in recent memory and provide an attacking wing threat on every single Spanish attack. The midfield and defense remain solid, but it’s the play from their wingers that has separated them as one of the best, if not the best international team on the planet.
The Spaniards are used to high scoring affairs, as there have been at least four or more goals in the ninety minutes of each of their last five games. Their moneyline hit in three of those five games. Spain are ranked second in the FIFA World Rankings, while Bulgaria are ranked 84th in the world. Bulgaria have only won one of their last eight matches in all competitions.
This is truly a David vs. Goliath matchup and I expect Spain to get the job done while scoring for fun.
