World Cup Qualifying: Spain Still Dominating Group Five

Nobody could have failed to predict that Spain would finish at the top of their group in this round of World Cup qualifying matches.

Now that they have won eight of eight, the only thing left to speculate about is who will finish second.

That is a battle that can only be fought between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Turkey.  Belgium is currently in fourth place with seven points, and a win in their two remaining matches would only be sufficient to move them (at best) into third place with 13 points.

Effectively, this means that the most important game in deciding the outcome of the battle for second place is the one which will take place between Belgium and Turkey on Oct. 10.

If Turkey can win that match, then they have a really good chance to clinch second place on the table, as their only remaining match will be a home game against Armenia.  We have all seen that Turkey is capable of playing a good game when they are fired up and it is not unrealistic to expect that they can give Belgium a tough match.

For Bosnia-Herzegovina, the news is not so good. They are ahead of Turkey by four points, so if Turkey does win the next two matches, they will get in front.  Bosnia-Herzegovina must either win at least one of the two remaining matches that they have or get a draw in both (the points would then be level with Turkey, but they would advance due to the goal ratio).

The situation for this team is more difficult, as their next match is an away game against Estonia (they should be able to win this based on statistics, but it is far from certain), and then a home game against Spain.

In part then, the fate of Bosnia-Herzegovina depends firstly on the outcome of Belgium v. Turkey, and secondly on whether Spain brings their best squad in the final showdown. 

Spain could very well take the attitude that they have nothing to do and take it easy.  On the other hand, the pride of making a clean sweep could be a motivator that sees them attempt to do just that very thing.