One of Europe's most classic football rivalries will decide who will be the first finalist at Euro 2024. Spain and France face each other in the first semi-final of the competition, which will be played in Munich on Tuesday 9 July at 22:00 hours Bulgarian time.
The two teams are among the most successful in the history of European championships - Spain hold the record together with Germany with three titles, while the Roosters have triumphed twice, with both countries also becoming world champions. France and Spain have a rich history in the continental championships - in 1984 at the Parc des Princes in Paris, the hosts beat La Furia Roja 2:0 in the final of the competition after goals from Michel Platini and Bruno Bellone to lift the trophy. 16 years later, at Euro 2000, France made a comeback against Spain for the final 2:1 in the quarter-finals, this time the heroes were Zinedine Zidane and Youri Djorkaeff, and subsequently the Roosters became champions of Europe again. Revenge for Spain came at Euro 2012 and a 2:0 victory in the quarter-finals after a Xabi Alonso brace, and soon afterwards the Spaniards became European champions for the second time in a row.
The other most important match between the two teams was the Round of 16 at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, when France staged a comeback to win 3:1 on their way to the final, which they lost to Italy on penalties. The overall statistics in official matches between the two giants is 6 wins for France, 2 draws and 2 victories for Spain. If friendlies are included, the advantage is for Spain - 16 wins, 13 losses and 4 draws.
La Furia Roja is the best team at Euro 2024, but in the 1/4-finals for the first time since the beginning of the competition, it was put under a serious test by the hosts from Germany. Luis de la Fuente's side won 2:1 after extra-time following a late goal from Mikel Merino, but were made to work hard after conceding an equalizer a minute before the end of regular time. The Spaniards are energetic, dynamic and play direct football, but for the semi-final they will be without two key players in Dani Carvajal, who was sent off against Germany, and Pedri, who has a sprained knee ligament. Striker Alvaro Morata was initially thought to have been suspended, but UEFA later confirmed that he was not, in fact, booked at the dramatic end to the Germany clash.
Didier Deschamps' France progressed to the semi-finals after knocking out Portugal on penalties. The Roosters are far from their best form of the tournament, but with a very good game in defense they compensate so far for the ineffective game in attack - the French are one step away from the final, given that they do not have a goal from play - own goal by Maximilian Wober in the match with Austria, a penalty by Kylian Mbappe against Poland and another own goal by Jan Vertonghen, which eliminated the Belgium team. In their remaining two matches, France drew 0:0 twice - with the Netherlands and Portugal. Now, Deschamps will again try to stop the Spanish machine with his solid performances in defense where Dayot Upamecano and William Saliba operate.
The winner of this match will play either England or the Netherlands in the final of Euro 2024. The second semi-final of the tournament will be played on Wednesday 10 July.
Expected lineups:
Spain: Simon, Navas, Nacho, Laporte, Cucurella, Olmo, Rodri, Ruiz, Yamal, Morata, Williams
France: Magnan, Kunde, Saliba, Upamecano, Hernandez, Kante, Tchouameni, Camavinga, Griezmann, Muani, Mbappe. | BGNES
