Since Vicente del Bosque took over as Spain's national team
The team has endured a series of tough matches since the coach's tenure ended. While his eventual successor Luis Enrique led the team to the semi-finals of the last Euro, their exit from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar was quick and impressive. However, their current coach Luis de la Fuente has reinvigorated Spanish soccer with victories in the Nations League.
Nonetheless, the draw for this summer's tournament laid out a challenging path with strong competitors like Croatia, who Spain beat to win the missing UEFA prize in their collection, and Italy who knocked them out of Euro 2020 in the process of winning the tournament. Zlatko Dalic managed to turn Croatia into a credible tournament challenger. In the aforementioned Nations League final, Croatia was able to frustrate Spain, eventually losing on penalties.
Recent struggles aside, Spain's attacking prowess, led by a resurgent Alvaro Morata and a group of intelligent organizers, remains daunting, and the slim 2-1 scoreline seemed to favor Spain, demonstrating their dominance as pre-tournament favorites and highlighting the need for improvement as a complete defensive unit.
We'll have more tips here closer to the time, so check back closer to kickoff for our best tips and predictions.
The showdown between Spain and Croatia will take place on June 15 at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin.
Spain finished first in Group A with a loss in the qualifiers. The only upsetting result they faced was on matchday two when Scotland won 2-0. Although Spain did get their revenge in the 2-0 win. The current Spanish side is not as experienced as their previous teams, with only two players (Jesus Navas and Morata) having made more than 50 appearances. However, they have an exciting group of young players, including Lamine Yamal, who could make a difference in the upcoming tournament.
Croatia finished second in Group D, one point behind eventual winners Turkey. They suffered two losses, one at home and one away to Wales. However, they did have the group's top scorer in Andrej Kramaric, who scored four goals.
Spain vs Croatia Head-to-Head
This will be their 11th meeting and third in the Europa League, with Spain holding a head-to-head record of six wins and three losses. That most recent match ended goalless in Rotterdam with the Nations League title on the line. Spain were near-perfect on penalties, with Aymeric Laporte missing his shot. However, Lovro Majerle and Bruno Petkovic couldn't get their shots past Unai Simon, who pounced on both occasions.
Both teams know that the best third place team will advance to the knockout stage. If there is a losing team, they will remain optimistic because there is still a chance to advance.
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