Spain and France have plenty of Nations League pedigree, they are two of the three teams to have won the tournament and now two giants of European football face off in the semi-final of the 2024-25 edition.
Team news
Spain are set to be without Dani Carvajal and Rodri while head coach Luis de la Fuente has made the bold call to leave Barcelona’s Ferran Torres and Real Madrid’s Raul Asencio out.
Defensive stalwarts William Saliba, Jules Kounde and Ferland Mendy are all injury absentees for France, who are also missing midfield maestro Eduardo Camavinga also misses out.
Kylian Mbappe does return to the squad after his short exile from the national team in March.
The stats
A 1-0 friendly defeat to Colombia is Spain’s only defeat from their last 27 matches in all competitions, they have won 20 times during this period.
In normal time, both teams to score and over 2.5 goals has landed in eight of La Roja’s last 12 games.
France have lost one of their last seven fixtures, a 2-0 defeat against Croatia in the first leg of the Nations League quarter-finals.
Les Bleus won all three of their away games in Group A2, with both teams to score and over 2.5 goals landing in all of those contests.
Prediction
After a relentless club season, Europe’s top players are straight back into international duty as two of the biggest teams in international football face off in this Nations League semi-final.
It looks difficult to call a winner between these two quality teams and the safer play may be to side with there being goals in the match.
Spain’s relentless attacking style saw them win Euro 2024 and they have continued that impressive form in the final third in the Nations League, netting 13 goals in their six matches.
La Roja will also be boosted by the news that Les Bleus will be without a number of their key defenders through injury.
However, the attacking talents that France have at their disposal are considerable and a number of them were on full display in Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League win at the weekend.
An end-to-end contest is expected and the goals could flow, making both teams to score and over 2.5 goals an appealing option.