A hat-trick from Mikel Merino, a brace from Pedri and a Ferran Torres strike condemn Turkiye to a shellacking at home.Published On 7 Sep 20257 Sep 2025Mikel Merino’s hat-trick helped Spain to thrash hosts Turkiye 6-0 in a World Cup qualifier as the European champions remained firmly in control of Group E.The hosts had no answer to Spain’s dominance on Sunday, undone time and again by the visitors’ speed and finesse, with a helpless Turkish defence torn apart on every counterattack.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listSpain lead the group with six points from two matches, while Turkiye and Georgia sit on three points from the same. Georgia beat Bulgaria 3-0 earlier on Sunday.The visitors struck early as Pedri found the net in the sixth minute, slotting past goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir.Merino doubled Spain’s tally in the 22nd minute, finishing off a slick passing move inside the box with a simple unmarked strike past the Turkish defence.In first-half stoppage time, Merino struck again, this time latching onto a pull-back and firing home to give Spain a three-goal cushion at the interval.The onslaught resumed eight minutes into the second half when a Turkish corner backfired, Ferran Torres led a rapid counterattack and finished off a sharp exchange inside the box to make it four.Brimming with confidence, Merino completed his hat-trick just four minutes later, capping another breakaway with a stunning left-footed curler from distance that flew into the top corner for Spain’s fifth.Pedri added another one for Spain in the 62nd minute, arriving unmarked at the end of another swift break to slot home his second for the night.Elsewhere in the UEFA qualifiers, four-time world champions Germany struggled for more than an hour against Northern Ireland, before scoring twice in three minutes in the second half to earn a 3-1 victory on Sunday. Advertisement With the score level at …
