Luis Enrique Spain book their place in the Qatar 2022 group stages after beating Sweeden 1nill courtesy of Alvaro Morata's goal.
Spain booked their place in the 2022 FIFA World Cup with a 1-0 win over Sweden at the Estadio La Cartuja de Sevilla, securing top spot in their group for a fourth consecutive World Cup qualifying campaign.
The hosts came out of the traps quickly, and Pablo Sarabia was first to test the water with a curling left-footed strike that just cleared the far post.
Emil Forsberg then caused havoc down the other end of the pitch for Sweden, and saw his long-range effort fly just wide.
Recovering quickly from that early scare, ‘La Roja’ dominated possession, but lacked the killer instinct required to trouble Robin Olsen in the Sweden goal.
Once again, Forsberg almost made them pay, hitting a volley which flew narrowly past the far post at the end of a tepid first half.
Even so, Luis Enrique’s side continued playing with fire at the start of the second half, and César Azpilicueta would have been a relieved man to see Alexander Isak blaze a shot over the bar, after his sloppy pass was intercepted.
Amongst the red shirts, Raúl de Tomás had cut a rather isolated figure in the first half, but he almost made a telling contribution, when his angled header went a whisker wide of the post.
Though they had been nowhere near their fluent best, Spain got a winning goal late on to take all three points thanks to Alvaro Morata.
He showed superb composure to take a touch and chip the ball over Olsen in the 86th minute, reacting well after Dani Olmo’s fierce effort was tipped onto the crossbar by the Swedish shot-stopper.
To their credit, Sweden were resilient in keeping the Spanish armada at bay as long as they did, but fell short in taking the goal they needed to claim top spot.
Once again, as was the case in their route to Russia four years ago, Sweden will be forced to settle for a place in the World Cup qualification play-offs.
Source: flashscore
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