Despite already accomplishing their respective missions, both Bosnia and Spain went hammer and tongs in an exciting, see-saw battle which was settled in a 60-second blitz in the first half.

Gerard Pique opened the floodgates on 13 minutes before David Silva made it two a minute later, and Alvaro Negredo put the nail in the coffin with two early second half strikes to register his first ever goals for La Seleccion.

The Group 5 winners predictably dominated the opening exchanges while the home sides absorbed the early pressure. But Bosnia looked threatening on the counter and there was no surprise when on six minutes, Edin Dzeko was released clean through on goal and after checking past Raul Albiol, he drilled in a low shot but it was slapped away by Iker Casillas.

Just seconds later, Sejad Salihovic rifled in a curling effort on the edge of the box which forced Casillas into an acrobatic finger-tip save.

On ten minutes, the Spanish defence was breached again and it was Vedad Ibisevic this time who bore down on goal but after rounding the on-rushing Casillas, he could only smack his shot against the side netting.

But completely out of the blue, La Furia Roja took the lead on 13 minutes. Xabi Alonso’s freekick on the left floated into the box nicely for Gerard Pique, who rose unchallenged to nod the ball past Nemanja Supic.

A minute later, it was 2-0. Straight from the restart, Negredo slipped in a clever through ball to David Silva, who coolly slotted the ball between the goalkeeper’s legs without even needing a first touch.

Miralem Pjanic almost pulled one back for Bosnia shortly after but his shot from 20 yards out flew just wide of Casillas’ left post. But five minutes later, the visitors came even closer to race further ahead when Alvaro Negredo twisted and turned past his marker and squared the ball to an unmarked Albert Riera, but the winger waited too long to pull the trigger and Safet Nadarevic was able to divert the shot out for a corner.

Fifteen minutes from the break, Negredo came close to his very first international goal when he towered over his marker to meet Joan Capdevila’s cross but his looping header bounced off the top of the bar. Straight to the other end, Casillas was forced into another brilliant save to fist away Salihovic’s shot from 12 yards out.

Miroslav Blazevic made a change at half-time in the hopes of re-energising his side for the start of the second period. But just four minutes in, it was 3-0 to La Seleccion and Negredo would have his first goal. Iniesta slipped a through ball into the box for Silva who squared it to the middle for Negredo to finish with a clinical low shot on the turn.

Five minutes later, Negredo put the icing on the cake with a simple tap-in with his knee after Riera’s cross somehow slipped through Supic's fingers and landed kindly for the Sevilla striker at the back post.

Spain were now passing the ball around confidently as the Bosnian spirit evaporated completely and the Zenica crowd went silent. Silva almost scored a spectacular effort from a tight angle after Supic had abandoned his line for a failed clearance, but the Valencia attacker’s shot only rippled the side netting.

The Liljani did gradually get back into the contest but they never had the spark to threaten Casillas’ goal. Zvjezdan Misimovic did come close on 80 minutes when he wriggled towards the byline but his low shot to the near post was collected by the Spanish shot-stopper.

Xabi Alonso then saw his direct freekick from the left channel tipped onto the bar by Supic. But La Roja wrapped up their five-star performance with a fifth goal a minute from the final whistle when Juan Mata ran onto Negredo’s cross and easily side-footed a soft half volley past the despairing goalkeeper. There was more to come, however.

Dzeko gave the home fans something to cheer a minute later when he netted Bosnia’s first after the Spanish defence failed to clear their lines. There was more to shout about when Misimovic netted a second for the hosts with a volley which crept in between Iraola’s legs and sneaked inside Casillas’ right post. Neither goalscorers celebrated, however, as Vicente del Bosque’s men successfully kept their hundred percent record in qualifying.