'Just a dream!' Spanish media react to Arda Güler and Turkey after Bulgaria win

In the Group E Week 9 fixture, Turkey hosted Bulgaria at Bursa’s Timsah Arena and earned a comfortable win thanks to goals from Hakan Çalhanoğlu and Atanas Chernev (own goal).

With this result, Turkey guaranteed a place in the World Cup play-offs. The final group match will be played on November 16, when Turkey travel to face Spain.

To win the group outright and claim a direct World Cup berth, Turkey would need to beat Spain—who have not conceded a single goal in the qualifiers—by seven goals, an almost impossible scenario.

Spanish media highlight Turkey’s “utopian dream”

Spanish sports daily MARCA covered the match with the headline:

“Turkey qualify for the play-offs and dream of a utopia against Spain.”

MARCA wrote:

“Dreams… in other words, just dreams. But Turkey, in search of their first World Cup appearance since finishing third in 2002, cling to them. To achieve that, they must beat Spain—who have yet to concede a goal—by seven goals in the final match.”

The article continued:

“At least they secured their play-off spot with a narrow 2–0 win over Bulgaria. Even though the match wasn’t played in Istanbul, Bursa’s Timsah Arena was roaring even before kick-off, and Turkey sealed their place in the play-offs.”

Defensa Central: “Arda Güler was one of the best players”

Real Madrid-focused outlet Defensa Central praised Arda Güler’s performance:

“Turkey comfortably beat Bulgaria 2–0, and in Saturday’s match, Güler was one of the team’s best players.”

Real Madrid’s official website praises Arda

Real Madrid’s official website also highlighted Güler’s performance:

“Turkey earned an important 2–0 victory over Bulgaria to secure their World Cup qualifying play-off place. Real Madrid’s Arda Güler was one of the standout performers in the match played in Bursa.”