Spain top of its World Cup qualifer group after 3-0 defeat of Italy

SPAIN'S Sunday night 3-0 victory against Italy means a giant leap forward in its quest for a place in the FIFA World Cup, with Real Madrid's Isco Alarcón scoring two of the goals in his home stadium, the Santiago Bernabéu.

Group G team Spain now has three matches left, aginst Liechtenstein, Albania and Israel, to determine whether it will be off to Russia next year to try to reclaim the coveted trophy it historically won in 2010 in South Africa, but lost in 2014 in Brazil.

The sweeping defeat of the azzurri, or 'The Blues' as the Italian side is known, was a satisfying revenge for Spain who crashed out before reaching the quarter-finals at the UEFA Euro last year – having won the last two, in 2008 and 2012, on the trot.

And former Valencia player David Villa was in his element – currently based in New York and with no plans to retire, the 35-year-old was among the surprise picks for the Spanish team to play in the qualifiers, having not been chosen for an international game in the previous three years.

But manager Julen Lopetegui's judgment proved sound, with 'The Reds' successfully flattening a team that has not lost a single qualifier in 11 years.

After Isco took a free kick which went straight into the net, and followed it up swiftly with a second, Sergio Ramos set up goal three which was driven home by Álvaro Morata, briefly home in Spain from his current base in Chelsea.

'The Reds' are hoping it will be all downhill from here – Liechtenstein, one of their imminent Group G rivals, is on zero after being beaten 2-0 by Albania, another country due to play Spain which is on 12 points after losing to Italy.

It appears the difficult part is now over – Spain also has to play Macedonia, currently on six points, and Israel on nine, and is already three points ahead of Italy's 16, with a total of 19, putting 'The Reds' at the top of the standings.

But the Spanish side is not ready to be complacent after a few years of playing below par in major international tournaments, a complete flip-side to their UEFA Euro-World Cup 'sandwich'.

Only the winning countries from each of the groups will go to Russia for the FIFA 2018 World Cup, and the eight top-scoring second-placed teams – one from eight of the nine groups – will play off.

Spain's own place was literally hanging on a victory over Italy, however, meaning Sunday's match gave the team plenty to celebrate.