EURO2024Q: No issues for Spain in the far east of the Mediterranean Sea

Spain secured their fifth consecutive victory in Euro 2024 qualifying after cruising to a comfortable 3-1 win over Cyprus at the Alphamega Stadium, becoming the outright Group A leaders and moving three points clear of Scotland.

Luis de la Fuente made nine changes to the side that beat Norway last time out to seal qualification, with only Gavi and Robin Le Normand remaining from that line-up in Oslo. However, the wholesale changes had little bearing on this encounter against the Group A whipping boys, as Spain broke the deadlock in just the fifth minute. La Roja’s youngest-ever player and goalscorer broke the deadlock, as Mikel Merino's ball across the box was missed by Joselu, and Lamine Yamal showed brilliant composure in the box before slotting the ball home.

Mikel Oyarzabal doubled Spain’s advantage in the 24th minute with an angled strike from Álex Grimaldo’s pass, after a VAR review overruled the initial offside decision. Joselu ended the brief wait for a third in the 28th minute after ghosting in unmarked at the far post from Oyarzabal’s corner, and hopes of replicating their 6-0 win in the reverse fixture seemed increasingly likely. It was not all good news for the visitors though, with Oyarzabal forced off due to an apparent hamstring injury and replaced by Rodrigo Riquelme, who came on to make his senior debut before halftime.

The ease with which Spain were progressing to victory did not seem to bother the crowd in Limassol, as a Mexican wave swept the stands. De la Fuente’s side were sauntering their way towards three points, and Riquelme was looking to mark his debut with a goal after jinking in off the right flank, but his resulting effort went wide of the target. However, Spain were made to pay for dropping their intensity, as Cyprus scored a famous and very well-worked goal. Charalampos Charalampous provided a perfectly-weighted pass into Kostas Pileas, who clinically fired home past David Raya to reduce the deficit to two.

Predictably, the strike did not spark the unlikeliest of comebacks from the hosts, as La Roja extended their unbeaten run to seven matches across all competitions and all but mathematically secured top spot, after Scotland’s 2-2 draw with Georgia. Meanwhile, this result continues a dismal campaign for Cyprus, who have now succumbed to eight Euro 2024 qualifying defeats in a row.

EURO 2024 QUALIFIERS

Thursday

Estonia - Austria 0-2 (0-2)

/Laimer 26, Lienhart 40/

Cyprus - Spain 1-3 (0-3)

/Pileas 75 - Yamal 5, Oyarzabal 22, Joselu 28/

Georgia - Scotland 2-2 (1-0)

/Kvaratskhelia 15, 56 - McTominay 49, Shankland 90+2/

Azerbaijan - Sweden 3-0 (2-0)

/Mahmudov 3, 89, Dadashov 6/

Bulgaria - Hungary 2-2 (1-1)

/Delev 24, Despodov 79 pen - Adam 10, Petkov 90+7 og/

22:45: (1.75) Slovakia (3.70) Iceland (5.50)

22:45: (1.35) Montenegro (5.30) Lithuania (10.5)

22:45: (2.95) Luxembourg (3.30) B&H (2.60)

22:45: (95.0) Liechtenstein (28.0) Portugal (1.01)

***odds are subject to change***