SPAIN VS FRANCE PREVIEW

Tournament favourites Spain take on France in the first semi-final of EURO 2024 in Munich in a bid to make it to the highly anticipated final in Berlin on Sunday.

It was at this stage of the last EUROs where La Roja slipped up, losing to Italy 4-2 on penalties after the final score was 1-1. It is looking likely that the star-studded Spaniards will be able to rewrite their mistakes this time around, being the favourites to win the tie, and certainly being the side on better scoring form.

6⃣ Semi-final: 🇮🇹 Italy 1-1 Spain 🇪🇸 (4-2 pens)

⭐️ Federico Chiesa completed a quick counter-attack before Jorginho calmly rolled in the clinching penalty.#EURO2020 pic.twitter.com/m3M1ocN7jE

— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) July 20, 2021

The front three for Spain has been immaculate all tournament, ripping apart every defence, until they played against hosts Germany on Friday, where they struggled a bit more. With the youthful confidence coming in from both wings by Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams, they have been ruthless to play against, and you would expect a similar strategy against France, who haven’t performed to the best of their ability so far in the tournament.

📊 DID YOU KNOW ❓

Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal have demonstrated exceptional skill and creativity at the European Championship, collectively achieving 20 successful take-ons and creating 20 scoring opportunities.

Would their stats be as impressive if they played against… pic.twitter.com/s0He5bF9h6

— The Fact Sleuth (@Diduknow98) July 5, 2024

While Luis de la Fuente’s side have reached the final four conceding only two goals throughout the entire tournament, their backline will have to change following the suspension of right back Dani Carvajal and centre-half Robin Le Normand. Both are facing a one match suspension, but will return to the side if they reach the final. This could cause Spain's defence to open up and allow France through to the goal.

📸 - YELLOW CARD CARVAJAL, SUSPENDED FOR THE SEMI FINAL! pic.twitter.com/qznpQlEDzs

— 𝐀𝐅𝐂 𝐀𝐉𝐀𝐗 💎 (@TheEuropeanLad) July 5, 2024

However, despite France having such a talented list of attackers on their roster, they have still failed to score a goal from open play in this tournament, with two of their goals being own goals scored by the opposition, and the other being a penalty scored by Kylian Mbappé. This is a massive cause for concern for Didier Deschamps, and needs to improve if they want any chance of getting past such an in-form and talented team like Spain.

The match is set to be a fiery one, between two of the biggest teams in European football, but who will have the edge to get through?

SPAIN TEAM NEWS

As previously mentioned, Spain will be without both Carvajal and Le Normand as they serve their one-match suspensions, so de la Fuente will look to the experienced Nacho and Jesus Navas to replace them. Pedri has also confirmed that he is out for the rest of the tournament after acquiring a sprained knee following a harsh tackle from Toni Kroos in their match against Germany on Friday. It is expected that Leipzig’s Dani Olmo will replace the Barcelona maestro in midfield, as he did on Friday, where he scored the opening goal.

Scored the opener ✔️
Assisted the winner✔️

Dani Olmo produced a brilliant performance 👏@Vivo_GLOBAL | #EUROPOTM pic.twitter.com/v2fwL46sP8

— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) July 5, 2024

FRANCE TEAM NEWS

It is uncertain how long Mbappé will last after he showed some signs of struggling against Portugal, but he is certainly available to start for Les Bleus. Adrien Rabiot returns following his one-match suspension against Portugal, and is likely to come back into the starting lineup in place of Eduardo Camavinga. Elsewhere there are no new injuries for Deschamps to deal with.

SPAIN VS FRANCE PREDICTED LINEUPS

ESP: U. Simon, J. Navas, N. Fernandez, A. Laporte, M. Cucurella, D. Olmo, Rodri, F. Ruiz, L. Yamal, A. Morata, N. Williams

FRA: M. Maignan, J. Koundé, D. Upamecano, W. Saliba, T. Hernández, N. Kanté, A. Tchouaméni, A. Rabiot, A. Griezmann, K. Mbappé, R. Kolo Muani

SPAIN VS FRANCE HEAD-TO-HEAD RESULTS

The two sides have faced each other 10 times in all competitions, with Spain winning on two occasions, France winning six, and two ending in a draw. The most recent clash being the Nations League final back in October 2021 in Milan, in which Mbappé scored an 80th minute winner to make it 2-1 and take the trophy for France.

SPAIN VS FRANCE PREDICTION

Spain 1-0 France

While Spain have been playing incredible football, France haven’t conceded many goals at all in the tournament, so the match itself is set to be a cagey one. With France still not having scored a goal in the entire tournament from open play, it is difficult to see them doing so against a defence that has only conceded twice in five games, albeit a slightly changed list of names. Given the form of both sides so far in the competition, it seems fair to say that Spain will come out on top.

The winner of this match will go on to face the winner of England vs The Netherlands in the final of EURO 2024 on Sunday in Berlin.