European champions Spain swept into the semifinals of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup on Wednesday by beating Iraq 1-0 in the central South African city of Bloemfontein. It was the first team to be qualified for the last four. That triumph meant that Spain equaled the longest consecutive winning run record of 14, shared by Australia in 1996 to 1997, Brazil in 1997 and France in 2003 to 2004.

Fernando Torres (L) of Spain vies with Muayad Khalid of Iraq during the Group A second round match at the FIFA Confederations Cup in Bloemfontein, South Africa, June 17, 2009.

It also enabled Spain to move within one match of the world record mark of 35 games unbeaten established by Brazil between 1993 and 1996. With a 5-0 opening win over Oceanian champions New Zealand on Sunday, Spain had been perfectly poised to enter the first four of the Confederations Cup.

Faced with the possibility of frequent attacks from the Spanish side, Asian champions Iraq chose a tightly defensive line-up with five defenders, leaving Spanish forwards surrounded in the box. The first half ended scoreless.

That strategy, however, consumed much energy on the Iraqi side. In the 55th minute. Spanish defender Joan Capdevila sent a cross to Valencia's

David Villa who was all on his own to steer a header into the far bottom corner of the net.

Fernando Torres (L) of Spain vies with Salam Shaker of Iraq during the Group A second round match at the FIFA Confederations Cup in Bloemfontein, South Africa, June 17, 2009.

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