Might it actually be true? An surprising midfielder outscoring Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe, and Robert Lewandowski within the 2026 World Cup qualifying marketing campaign? That’s the story taking European soccer without warning, as Spain’s dominance in Group E continues with perfection — and one participant’s title has turn out to be essentially the most surprising addition to the continent’s prime scorers listing.
Spain stays unstoppable beneath Luis de la Fuente, boasting an ideal document of 4 wins out of 4 within the European qualifying section, with a staggering 15-0 combination rating. Its newest 4-0 victory over Bulgaria not solely saved their run of 29 consecutive aggressive video games unbeaten, but in addition unveiled a goalscoring story few might have predicted.
The match itself was a masterclass in management and creativity. Pedri dictated the rhythm, Alex Baena tormented defenders, and Mikel Oyarzabal capped the night time with a penalty — nevertheless it was one man who really stood out. The highlight, surprisingly, belonged to Mikel Merino, who scored twice in Valladolid to seal one other emphatic win. With these objectives, the Arsenal midfielder introduced his tally to six objectives within the 2026 World Cup qualifying marketing campaign, greater than among the greatest names in soccer historical past.
For many of the first half, Bulgaria resisted Spain’s waves of assaults, however their resistance broke when Robin Le Normand headed Pedri’s floated ball into the field — and Merino rose highest to energy house the opener. It was Spain’s 18th shot on purpose already, proof of their relentless domination.
Mikel Merino of Spain celebrates after scoring.
Moments later, Merino almost turned supplier as a poor clearance fell to him, just for younger Samu Aghehowa to misfire. However the midfielder wasn’t finished. Within the second half, Álex Grimaldo’s inch-perfect cross from the left discovered Merino once more, and his header crashed previous the goalkeeper to make it 2-0. The 29-year-old’s timing, energy, and positioning had been faultless — the traits of a pure finisher relatively than a deep-lying playmaker.
Outscoring soccer’s elite
In keeping with FIFA‘s stats, “Mikel Merino (six) has scored extra objectives in 2026 World Cup qualifying than Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe, and Robert Lewandowski.”
That truth alone is staggering. Cristiano Ronaldo has netted 5 objectives for Portugal, Mbappe solely three for France, and Lewandowski has managed three for Poland. In the meantime, Merino, in simply 4 appearances, has scored six instances, matching the tallies of elite strikers like Harry Kane, Kevin De Bruyne, and Andrej Kramaric — and solely trailing Erling Haaland (12) and Memphis Depay (7) within the European zone.
For context, Haaland’s 12 objectives for Norway lead all scorers, whereas Depay’s seven for the Netherlands put him second. However Merino’s strike fee — 1.5 objectives per recreation — is among the many best within the competitors, putting him forward of a number of pure forwards.
| Rank | Participant | Targets | Matches Performed | Targets per 90 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Erling Haaland (Norway) | 12 | 6 | 2.05 |
| 3. | Mikel Merino (Spain) | 6 | 4 | 1.50 |
| 8. | Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) | 5 | 4 | 1.43 |
| 16. | Kylian Mbappe (France) | 3 | 3 | 1.03 |
| 16. | Robert Lewandowski (Poland) | 3 | 5 | 0.82 |
