Spain Qualify for 2018 FIFA World Cup with 3-0 Win over Albania

Spain cruised to another easy win in 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying on Friday, beating Albania 3-0. And with Italy only playing out a draw with Macedonia, La Roja are now assured a spot in next year's tournament as Group G winners.

Rodrigo, Isco and Thiago Alcantara all scored in the first half, giving La Roja a comfortable lead. The Albanians improved after the break but never came close to staging a comeback.

Here's a look at the two teams, via Football Espagna:

Albania were not expected to threaten Spain much, and early on, the match was one-way traffic. It took 13 minutes for the first major chance to develop, but when Isco did pick out Rodrigo, the Valencia man should have scored with a free header.

Minutes later, he made up for his miss with an excellent volley, with Isco again creating the chance, via sports writer Jonas Giaever:

The setback appeared to break Albania's resolve completely, and Spain increased their attacks. Etrit Berisha made a few key saves but could do nothing about Isco's excellent strike after 23 minutes, courtesy of a great feed by Koke.

Azdren Llullaku almost hit back for the visitors, hitting the crossbar with a great header that had David De Gea beat, but any hopes of an unlikely comeback were crushed when Thiago made it 3-0 with a smart header, taking advantage of some dreadful defending and a great assist from Alvaro Odriozola.

Meanwhile, Robbie Dunne of AS English noted the fans in Alicante were giving Gerard Pique a hard time, as they usually do:

Per Adriana Garcia of ESPN FC, Pique's stance on the Catalan independence referendum has long made him unpopular with fans of the national team and even more so in the wake of the recent violence.

Rodrigo almost doubled his tally shortly before half-time, with Berisha making a fine save, and the Valencia man missed another wide-open header to end the half.

Pique made the jeers worse by getting himself booked early in the second half, while Berisha kept his team from going down even more, making a good stop on Rodrigo.

Albania wanted a penalty after a cross appeared to make contact with Jordi Alba's arm, and Arlind Ajeti threatened with a header that narrowly went wide.

Pique's night came to an end after 60 minutes, and per Marca's Euan McTear, it may have been the last time he featured for La Roja in Spain:

The visitors mustered more chances once Pique left, with substitute Armando Sadiku in particular threatening. He twice drew good saves from De Gea, and the rebound for the second chance only just missed the target.

The pace dropped in the final 10 minutes, with the players on Spain's bench paying more attention to the match in Italy, where Macedonia equalised after 77 minutes. A late chance for Isco came to nothing, but La Roja didn't care much when they learned Italy had failed to beat Macedonia―punching Spain's ticket to Russia in the process.