Spain take on Croatia tomorrow in the opening fixture of what some people are calling the ‘group of death’ of EURO 2024 at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.

Spain go into the tournament in red hot scoring form off the back of two big wins against Andorra and Northern Ireland in warm-up friendlies, putting five goals past both sides.

🏁 ¡¡𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟, 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟, 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗔𝗔𝗔𝗔𝗟 𝗘𝗡 𝗠𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗢𝗥𝗖𝗔𝗔𝗔𝗔𝗔𝗔!!#ESP 🆚 #NIR | 5-1 | 90+2’#VamosEspaña | #EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/W8uFJhM80J

— Selección Española Masculina de Fútbol (@SEFutbol) June 8, 2024

La Roja narrowly missed out on the final of EURO 2020 after losing to Italy on penalties in the semi-finals, however the three time champions will still have confidence that if they get out of their group, they will be able to make it far in the tournament.

Croatia will also enter the first game of the tournament with confidence after narrowly beating European giants Portugal 2-1 in a friendly last week.

The final whistle in Lisbon! #Croatia defeats @selecaoportugal for the first time in history, before departing to #EURO2024 - congratulations! 🎆#PORCRO #Family #PokažiSrce #Vatreni❤️‍🔥 pic.twitter.com/95u2rH6BtQ

— HNS (@HNS_CFF) June 8, 2024

The Vatreni are undefeated in their last six fixtures in all competitions, conceding only three goals. All eyes will be on Fenerbahce keeper Dominik Livakovic to keep this form up.

BUILD DOMINIK LIVAKOVIC A STATUE IN CROATIA 🇭🇷

No keeper has made more saves than him at the World Cup 🧤 pic.twitter.com/INzKxq00cd

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) December 9, 2022

Zlatko Dalic’s side will be seeking revenge on Spain, who knocked them out of the last EURO tournament in the round of 16, winning 5-3 after extra time.

Spain vs Croatia Team News

Al Nassr Centre back Aymeric Laporte missed training on Thursday with a muscular problem, so it is expected that Nacho will start for La Roja.

Questions are floating around for Luis de la Fuente as to whether or not he will start 16-year-old Lamine Yamal for their EURO opener. If he does, Yamal will be the youngest player to ever play in a EURO championship.

Getting Ready 💪🏾🔥 #euro2024 pic.twitter.com/camKdpK0Tr

— Lamine Yamal 🇪🇸 (@LamineeYamal) June 14, 2024

It is understood that Ivan Perisic is still in recovery from his knee injury, so we may have to wait until later in the tournament to see him play.

The midfield is expected to remain with the fixed three of Mateo Kovacic, Luka Modric and Marcelo Brozovic.

Spain vs Croatia head-to-head results

The two sides have faced each other seven times in all competitions, with Spain winning on four occasions, Croatia winning twice and one ending in a draw. The most recent clash being the Nations League Final in 2023 which ended 0-0 and Spain won on penalties.

😱 ¡¡CARVAJAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLL!!

😍 ¡¡@DaniCarvajal92, TE QUIEROOOOOOO!!

¡¡A LO PANENKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!

🏆 ¡¡SOMOS CAMPEONESSSSSSSSSS DE LA NATIONS LEAGUE!! ¡¡SIIIIIIIIII!! #VamosEspaña | #NationsLeague pic.twitter.com/Y7Xih8auje

— Selección Española Masculina de Fútbol (@SEFutbol) June 18, 2023

The odds are in favour of Spain to take all three points from this game, but previous results show that it won’t be easy and the game could end up being quite tight and cagey with two very different playing styles coming up against eachother.

Spain vs Croaita prediction

Spain 2-1 Croatia

Despite the youth and quality in Spain’s squad making them favourites to win this group, I don’t think it will be as easy as it sounds. Croatia’s side come with a lot of experience and intelligence that could cause La Roja a few problems, especially with their strong trio in midfield. However, the youthfulness of the Spanish squad could prove to be an advantage and I see them winning the game late on.