Thursday’s Nations League Predictions, Best Bets & 53/1 Acca Tips | OneFootball

For the first time in 2025, international football takes centre stage this week, with the World Cup qualifiers getting underway alongside the next rounds of the Uefa Nations League.

England and Wales are among the teams starting their World Cup qualification campaigns for 2026, but within Europe, the business end of the Nations League begins ahead of the finals in June.

There are some heavy-hitting quarter-final ties to look forward to, getting underway on Thursday, with European champions and Nations League holders Spain taking on Netherlands in a repeat of the 2010 World Cup final.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal side face Denmark in their quarter-final, while France face off against Croatia and Italy face Germany in a battle between the continent’s most successful sides.

Elsewhere, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland are both hoping to save their spots in Leagues A and B via play-off ties against Greece and Bulgaria respectively.

And with the first legs of these intriguing match-ups taking place before the weekend, we’ve compiled a fourfold from select games that returns at 53/1 with football betting sites.

Greece vs Scotland Betting Tips

(7.45pm, BBC iPlayer)

Particular attention could be on Scotland as the only home nation in Nations League action, with Steve Clarke’s side looking to avoid relegation from the top-tier League A.

Despite some spirited performances against top quality opposition in Portugal and Croatia, the Scots needed a late Andy Robertson winner against Poland in their final match to secure a place in the play-offs.

They now face a Greece side who put in several great performances of their own as they finished second to England on goal difference alone Group 2 League B.

With five wins from six – including a 2-1 victory at Wembley – the Greeks will feel fully deserving of a place in League A, but they’ll have to earn it over two matches against Clarke’s side, with the first coming in Athens on Thursday.

These two sides have only faced each other on two previous occasions, during qualifying for Euro ‘96 when the home side came out on top 1-0 on both occasions.

And with both teams proving they can compete with the continent’s best over the last few months, it should be a close game in the Greek capital.

Despite this, the Greeks are overwhelming favourites at 21/20 on some betting sites. Home advantage was key the last time these teams met and Scotland’s recent run of five defeats in the last six away games nudges us towards the Greeks.

The international stage has been full of disappointment for France since their successful 2018 World Cup campaign, with a loss in the 2022 final followed by a semi-final loss at Euro 2024 to eventual champions Spain.

They did win this competition in 2021, but Les Bleus could do with another victory ahead of the 2026 World Cup - a competition in which they’ll undoubtedly be among the favourites.

Didier Deschamps already counts plenty of the world’s most exciting emerging talent in his ranks, from Michael Olise and Ibrahima Konate to Desire Doue and a rejuvenated Ousmane Dembele.

And that is without counting new captain – and perhaps the world’s best player – Kylian Mbappe.

Much of the narrative around the side has been regarding Mbappe’s return to Clairefontaine after missing two consecutive international camps, but with the 26-year-old having finally settled in at Real Madrid, it seems the perfect time to make a comeback.

The Frenchman has hit some impressive form in recent weeks, and has already taken his tally to 30 goals and four assists for Real this season, including a hat-trick against Manchester City and a brace away at Villarreal last weekend.

In fact, in his last 15 league matches, he has 14 goals, as well as four in his last five Champions League games.

Mbappe should prove too much for a Croatia side that snuck into the Nations League quarter-finals despite failing to win any of their last three group games.

The competition’s quarter-finals have thrown together plenty of enticing match-ups, with this game potentially among the most intriguing.

Both of these sides were in the semi-finals of Euro 2024, with the Netherlands losing to England, who then went on to be beaten by Spain in the final.

And La Roja also come into the business end of this competition looking to defend the trophy they won in June 2023, when a 5-4 victory on penalties against Croatia gave them their first Nations League success.

Spain’s five wins and one draw gave them a comfortable finish at the top of group A4, while the Netherlands came second to Germany in A3 with a decidedly more mixed bag of results – two wins, three draws and a loss.

That alone is enough to suggest a fairly straightforward win for Spain, who can count on far more quality throughout the squad than the Dutch.

However, Spain did concede four times throughout their league campaign, suggesting they can leak goals against more accomplished sides.

Though these are the two most successful sides on the continent – they’ve won four World Cups each – both nations have struggled at times in recent international tournaments.

Despite hosting Euro 2024, an entertaining Germany side fell to a quarter-final defeat to eventual winners Spain, though many agree that the players – and manager Julian Nagelsmann – have shown more than enough promise for the future.

Italy exited the tournament at the hands of Switzerland in a disappointing summer, and while the Azzurri won the delayed Euro 2020 with a series of brilliant displays, many of the key players from that side either retired or have fallen out of form, from Giorgio Chiellini to Federico Chiesa.

And Luciano Spalletti is now having to gel a side of different talent levels, from the emerging Mateo Retegui to more established names such as Nicolo Barella.

This blend has so far not been achieved, though their recent performances suggest Spalletti could be getting close.

Both sides have been hit by injuries with the likes of Retegui, Kai Havertz and Florian Wirtz unavailable, and bookmakers are finding it hard to choose a favourite, with both sides priced at 17/10 to win.

To that end, it could be a good idea to avoid a wager on either side to win – instead, BTTS and over 2.5 goals could provide value at 7/5.

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